


Bunny Teeth

by sugarloser



Category: TWICE (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bangtan Universe, BangTwice, F/M, Jimin & RM / minimoni mentioned in the ending, Jinayeon, Jinayeon are the real ship!, Mentioned Bangtan Boys | BTS Member(s), Momo & Heechul not a main couple, TWICE Ensemble - Freeform, Tzuyu & Jungkook mentioned in the end, jihyo - Freeform, twice, tzuyu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23409556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarloser/pseuds/sugarloser
Summary: Kim Seokjin gets chased out of his car by a crazy lady, and dragged into the woods shortly after. He wakes up in a wooden mansion with nine girls who kill bad guys for a living, and finds out that one of these psychos is the love of his life- and he has to escape with her.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Kim Seokjin | Jin
Comments: 20
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter One

The woods are pitch black. Jin teeters between the line between the road and the grassy forest, the cars flashing by his only source of light.

Tonight was supposed to be fun. He was supposed to meet up with Jimin, get with the rest of the boys, and go tear shit up. If it weren’t for some crazy bitch chasing him out of his car and into the middle of no where, he’d be on his way to having fun right now. 

Another issue was that his phone was dead. It hung heavy in his pocket, weighing him like a burden. 

_I hope God watches me tonight._ Jin thought bitterly. _It’s the only way I’ll ever live through this._

“I’m so handsome.” Jin sighed, a cold breath of air following his words. “There’s no way God didn’t put thirty angels to watch over me.” 

Something in the distance roared. Before Jin could be afraid, a car whirled by. 

Jin stood stiffly for a moment, heels of his shoes digging into the dirt. He was completely lost. He had no idea where he was going, no idea who chased him out of his car, no idea if the crazy lady was still following him, and no idea if his beautiful face would see the light of day again.

Anxiously, he looked around, squirming in his shoes. He had no clue what to do now. Just as he was about to continue standing there, Jin felt a sudden sharp pain in the side of his head. He stumbled to the right, then to the left, and finally, his eyes fluttered shut- and he fell backwards into the damp, grassy embrace of the forest’s grounds. All he heard was a sickening crack, and the world went black. 

_”He’s so handsome! His shoulders are a foot long!”_

_”This is the ugliest man I’ve ever seen.”_

_”Are you sure we even have the right guy? He doesn’t look like the man on the file at all.”_

_”Sana, shut up! You’ve been singing Baby Shark for the past thirty minutes!”_

Light blinded Jin’s vision as his eyes cracked open. The more he opened his eyes, the more he yearned to close them; as his eyelids struggled, he started to feel pain searing through his head, wincing at the soreness of his shoulders. He screwed his eyes shut, and when they opened again, the pain had not gone away but his vision had blearily come back. There were people in front of him. As his vision cleared, he could see there were nine of them, all thin outlines of bodies that looked like they belonged to girls.

“He’s awake!” One gasped. 

“God, he’s like a sculpture.” Another sighed. “I can’t kill him.”

“I’m so hungry!” It was the first girl Jin was able to make out. She was shouting about her painful hunger in wonky korean and a beautiful, silky black dress. She filled it out well, and her face, pretty and round, challenged the beauty of her body. 

“Hello!” A different girl with blonde hair and a sharp nose hovered in front of him, blocking his view on the girls. “Hi! You have an awful jawline, did you know?!”

“Sorry?” Jin croaked. He had no idea his voice was so hoarse.

“You’re forgiven.” She said mercifully.

“Sana, stop bothering him!” Said a girl, shoving the blonde one away. Jin would have been thankful, had Sana not been so beautiful.

Jin wasn’t quite registering what was happening. He was surrounded by seven- or nine? Nine pretty girls, all dressed in lacy white shirts and black skirts or pants, studying him like he was a lab rat. He was apparently tied to a chair, and the only details he could make out about the room was that it was made of wood. 

“I will catch this place on fire if you don’t let me go.” Came Jin’s first threat. The girls snickered, and Sana giggled helplessly. 

“Please tell me what’s going on!” Jin pleaded, stomping his feet. “Where am I?! Are you all the crazy lady that was chasing my car?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.” A girl with short hair and a pretty face growled. She looked to be the shortest out of all her friends. “Oh Seungjun, hunted on account of harassment to a member of the group. That’s you, isn’t it?”

“No!” Jin shouted. He thrashed in his chair. “Of course it’s not me! My name is not Oh Seungjun, that is the ugliest name ever, I’m not a sexual offender and I don’t know why I’m here! Why are you all bothering me?! Just let me leave!”

“Even if you’re not Oh Seungjun, we can’t just let you leave.” Another one of the nine girls snorted. She had short, chestnut hair, and a unique look to her face. “Nobody can know about us. What if you blab to your friends?”

“He is Oh Seungjun.” The short one insisted. “He’s lying through his teeth!”

“It doesn’t look like he’s lying.” Said a girl with pale skin and sharp eyes. “He looks like he just wants to get out of here. Like genuinely escape.”

“We should put him in the prisoner’s room.” Another nodded. 

“Please! I’m Kim Seokjin, I’m from Gwaecheon, my uncle owns a strawberry farm, I’m the youngest in my family, I have six best friends, I’m the handsomest man in the world and I work as a model and an actor for BigHit Entertainment! That’s all there is to me! I’m not Oh Mungjun, I’m not gonna blab to my friends and I’m not a harasser! Let me go!” Jin threw his famous tantrums, to which the girls watched in stunned silence. Once he finished, they nodded and seemed to consider his words.

“Still lying.” The short one said.

“Chaeyoung!” A new girl said. She had massive eyes, a bob cut and she might’ve been the prettiest out of all the nine girls Jin had seen that night. “Stop it! Kim Seokjin, I believe you. You don’t even look like the guy on the file. Dahyun probably got the wrong person.”

“Hey! It said Seungjun had massive shoulders!” Dahyun, the girl with the pale skin, protested, despite having stuck up for Jin earlier. “I saw this guy’s silhouette in the car and I thought it was him!”

“Dahyun, it’s mistakes like that which can get us exposed.” The big eyed girl said gravely. “This is your second time slipping up like this. You need to start being more careful, Dahyun, or it could lead to something serious for all of us.”

“Let’s not scold each other.” A pretty girl soothed. She looked like a foreigner. “For now, let’s decide on what to do with him.”

Nayeon, a girl with a bunny toothed smile and a cute face, had decided she wanted Jin to hang out with them. The group agreed, except for Chaeyoung, who still thought he was lying. The leader, Jihyo, had given Jin a pitiful look after the decision was made.

“We’ll have to erase his memory then.” Jihyo had sighed.

“No big deal.” Mina, the foreigner, said. “It’s a quick process. It’s better than killing him.” 

“Killing him is even faster.” A girl with darker skin called. Her name was Tzuyu.

“So who will he sleep with?” Sana grinned, bringing up the most random question. Jin had smiled at her fast paced mind; it reminded him a lot of Taehyung.

“He should sleep in the prison!” Chaeyoung declared. Tzuyu nodded in agreement.

“Why doesn’t he sleep with Nayeon?” Momo, the hungry girl, suggested. “He can just sleep on the floor if Nayeon doesn’t like it.”

“It does get cold in here.” Jihyo remarked. “Nayeon, would you mind? We’ll get a bit of rest tonight, and we’ll have Seokjin do some heavy lifting for us tomorrow.”

“Sure.” Nayeon agreed easily. She turned to Jin. “Let’s go?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing,” Jin seethed as Nayeon pulled him along by a rope tied to his wrist. “But I’m not into stuff like this! I really need to be in love with somebody to do anything- anything at all!”

Nayeon had dragged Seokjin out of the wooden holding chambers through masses of winding, wooden halls, eerie portraits of beautiful women painted in soul-sucking colors hung as the house grew into a mass expansion of hallways and rooms. He only had a glimpse of the hallway’s exit into the enormous kitchen before Nayeon was dragging him up fifteen flights of stairs.

“If I catch this place on fire, the whole thing will burn down!” Jin had threatened on their way up the marble staircase. “I’ll sic a bunch of termites in here!” 

Upstairs was equally as wooden as downstairs, but the floor was the same pretty material as the stairs were. There were less portraits, and instead, the hall way opened into a mass opening of huge, white doors, leering feet above Nayeon and Jin. 

Now, Nayeon opened the princess like door knob to her room. She threw Jin inside, and locked the door behind them. She flicked on the lights, and a huge chandelier lit up her equally large room. “I’m not going to do anything to you.” Nayeon laughed. She pulled the tie out of her hair, shaking her head as it fell loose. “You’re not my type.”

“Good!” Jin sank into the floor. Then, he shot up. “Wait. I’m not your type?”

Nayeon grinned, and Jin would be lying if he said his heart didn’t skip a beat. She had a gummy smile, but her teeth were big and disarranged. She looked like a bunny. 

“I like buff guys.” She said as she bent over her vanity, hair falling from her shoulders and draping beside her face. 

“I am buff.” Jin went on. 

Nayeon turned her head, and shot Jin a sharp look. “Really?” She clicked her tongue. “You think now is a good time to be self confident?”

“It’s always a good time to be self confident.” Jin stated. Nayeon seemed to like it, because she laughed like he was insane. “You’re so right!” She agreed through laughter, still giggling as she wiped away her make up.

“What... is this place?” Jin carried on hesitantly. He was leaning against the leg of Nayeon’s quadruple king size bed, staring at the floaty curtains covering the window and wondering why Nayeon had an entire library in her room. 

“This place?” Nayeon blinked. She kept removing her make up. “I can’t tell you.”

“It’s probably something like a cult. It’s a cult, huh?” Jin started to feel cold on the floor as he jabbered on. “What was all that about erasing my memory?”

“I still can’t tell you.” Nayeon said, taking out her dangling earrings. 

“But you’re gonna wipe my memory.” Jin protested.

“What if you escape?” Nayeon brought up.

“Then I escape.” Jin smiled. 

“We wouldn’t let you escape so easy.” Nayeon sighed.

“You’re contradicting yourself!” Jin declared. “Look at that! You can’t even stick to one thing to tell me!”

“I’m gonna change my clothes.” Nayeon rolled her eyes. “Go sit on one of the sofas.” She gestured to the miniature library to the side of her room as she strutted away. Jin watched as she opened the huge closet door, and shut it as she stepped inside. Once she was out of sight, Jin stood up.

He did not feel curious anymore. He moved to the little library area a foot away from Nayeon’s bed, wrists still tied tight, and collapsed onto one of the sofas. The rush of adrenaline and the need to keep speaking started dying away as Jin curled into one of the sofa’s corners, eyes glassing as he stared out the shut windows and into a starless night sky. 

_What did I get myself into?_ He thought sulkily. He threw his head back onto the sofa, eyes moving from the window to the looming ceiling. _Are the boys looking for me right now?_

_I have work tomorrow!_ Jin remembered dreadfully. The more he thought, the more he felt hopeless. Was he going to die in here? No. The girls had ruled against that. They were just gonna... wipe his memory?! 

“Kim Seokjin?”

Jin scrambled further into the corner of the couch, head whipping around to see who was calling him. Heart beating at an alarming rate, he didn’t even realize a tear had streaked down his cheek.

Nayeon had seen it. In a night gown now, the moonlight illuminated her pale skin, and Jin could clearly see the pity in her eyes at the sight of his tears. 

“Are you crying?” She asked awkwardly. 

“No!” Jin spat out. “I’m not! I was just staring at the ceiling for too long.”

“Without blinking?” Nayeon frowned in confusion.

“You have the Sistine Chapel painted on your ceiling.” Jin pointed to the ceiling. Surely enough, Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling had been recreated on Nayeon’s. “A lot to look at.”

“You know.” Nayeon wasn’t looking at the painting of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. “We won’t hurt you.”

“How much of my memory are you gonna take out?” Jin murmured instead of replying.

“Just enough so that you don’t remember us.” Nayeon told him. “It’s just a quick hypnotic thing that Dahyun does in five seconds. We do have to knock you out right after to ditch you on the side of the road, but that’s it.”

“It won’t work.” Jin declared randomly. 

“Do you want to take a shower?” Nayeon offered. It seemed Jin’s tear had opened up a gateway of pity; if Jin had asked to leave while he was crying, Nayeon would probably have said yes. 

“Yeah.” He nodded weakly. 

He showered and got to take off the ropes on his wrist, and the skin beneath was swollen and purple. Once he got out, Nayeon got him a pair of pajamas. They were apparently hers, because the shirt did not go up past the swell of his arm and the pants exposed his ankle and half of his shin.

“Sorry!” Nayeon laughed upon sight of him. “You weren’t lying though! You’re buff!” 

Jin tried to hide his six pack.

“Woa... Your waist is little too.” Nayeon gasped. “Should I just let you sleep without a shirt?”

“You have no bigger clothes?” Jin shifted uncomfortably.

“We haven’t had a man stay for more than ten hours since we started living here.” Nayeon shook her head. “But no worries! Momo has a boyfriend she sees sometimes.”

“See sometimes? How is that even her boyfriend?” Jin said in shock.

“They really love each other.” Nayeon raised her eyebrows and made a face. “ _Really_ love each other. Be right back!”

Nayeon returned with a shirt, but it did not fit over Jin’s shoulders. She worried her lip, then groaned excessively.

“Take the shirt off!” She ordered.

“What?” Jin stammered. “No! I like it! It’s a good fit. Good night, Nayeon!”

“Take it off!” She urged, pulling at the shirt. Awkwardly, Jin took it off. “Can you stop looking?”

Nayeon grabbed the shirt and sauntered over to her desk. She rummaged briefly through drawers before she whipped out scissors fit to cut meat, and started cutting way at the sleeves. 

“Tada!” She revealed the ugly shirt to Jin.

“It looks bad.” He frowned.

“Put it on!” She said, and Jin did. It was far more comfortable than the other two shirts, but the rest of it was still a little tight on him. He figured he’d stretch it out while he slept, so he didn’t bring it up to Nayeon.

“You look handsome in tank tops.” Nayeon remarked.

“Didn’t you say I’m not your style?” Jin sighed.

“You aren’t!” Nayeon assured him. She ran to her bed, grabbed a pillow and a blanket, and handed it to Jin. “Here. Pick where you want to sleep.” 

Jin stared at the two objects in his hands. At the touch of the soft blanket and heavenly feeling pillow, he decided maybe his stay wouldn’t be so bad after all. “Good night!” He said cheerily. 

/

The next morning, someone was icing Jin’s wrists for him. He woke up due to the icy feeling on his skin, making him shiver. When he opened his eyes to see what was happening, he came face to face from one of the nine girls. 

Jin yelped, and pulled his hands away.

“What?” The girl pouted. It was the girl with the sharp nose- the crazy one. “Give me your wrists!” 

“No!” Jin reeled.

“They’re turning black!” She protested. 

Jin looked at his wrists to see if it was true, and it was. Compared to the purple bruises and deep red marks from yesterday, dark colors of black and blue were blossoming instead. 

“Shit!” Jin hissed. “Does this leave a permanent mark?”

“No.” She said innocently. “But the bruises take a week or two to heal.”

“How am I supposed to work with bruises like this?” Jin complained. “I’m a model! I can’t even get a little scratch!”

“Wow. I remember modeling!” She grinned, face lighting up. “It’s like those cover girls, right? The girls who show up on the front of magazines?”

“You don’t have a phone?” Jin asked.

She shrugged. “Nope! No one does. We’re not allowed access to the rest of the world.”

“What?” Jin scrunched his face. “How long have you been in here?”

“Since I was sixteen.” She said simply. “Jihyo’s been here since she was ten!”

“Ten!” Jin gagged. “For what?!”

“Secret!” She giggled. “I’m Sana Minatozaki! You are Kim Seokjin.”

“Right.” Jin nodded. “Nice to meet you, Sana Minatozaki. Are you from Japan?”

“Yes!” She said enthusiastically. “Japan! I’m from there! I always have dreams about my parents, cooking and talking to me in Japanese! If I’m ever allowed out, I think the first place I’d go to is Japan.”

“You have parents?” Jin was taken aback by this. Were these girls being held captive? “Are... Do they know you’re here?”

“Nobody knows I’m here.” Sana smiled. As Jin was distracted with the topic of conversation, Sana started to ice his wrists again. “No one is meant to know at all! All we do in here is get bad guys and take them out.”

“Don’t you miss your parents?” Jin breathed, astonished.

“Every single day.” Sana’s smile shrank. “But I’m not supposed to talk about them.”

“Are you guys being held against your will?” Jin put a hand on Sana’s shoulder. “Are you being imprisoned? Do you need to get out of here?”

“We’re here because we were chosen.” Sana’s eyes shone as she spoke. Her distancing face returned to the strange emotion she always kept it in. “We’re here for a purpose!”

“Hey!” The voice was incredibly familiar. When Jin lifted his head, he saw it was the short girl from last night. “What are you doing talking to this jerk? Especially when he’s a man!”

“Oh? No honorifics?” Sana called with a goofy face. 

“Sorry.” Chaeyoung said immediately. “Just wrap it up in here. We’re eating breakfast right now.”

“We are?!” Sana gasped. “Come on, Kim Seokjin! We’re eating breakfast right now!”

If Jin had to pick one girl he was comfortable enough to sit with, he would probably leave the room. Every girl was equally crazy, and those who weren’t crazy were insane and or terrifying. Jihyo, with the big eyes, called Jin over to help her cook breakfast before he could make a decision.

“Have you ever cooked before?” Jihyo smiled at him. Jin thought she was pretty too.

“Yeah. I used to cook a lot for my friends.” Jin nodded. 

“Then start cooking pancakes.” Jihyo ordered. Jin had no choice but to comply. Now, Jin sat alone at their grand dining table, a good couple of chairs away from the nine people. Quietly, he ate his food, trying to stay invisible as the girls chattered with each other. 

“What’s he doing all alone?” 

All eyes were on Jin. The girls sneered and grinned at him, and though Jin was trying his best to sink into himself, his shoulders were sixty centimeters long. It was no use trying to shy away. 

“What is he still here for?” A girl who was not any of the girls he knew asked bluntly. 

“To do some heavy lifting.” Jihyo said simply. Nayeon gave him a sympathetic look, and Jin started to wish he hadn’t cried in front of her.

The heavy work was dirty. Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Tzuyu were all accompanying Jin into the forest. They were dressed in gorgeous clothes, lacy shirts and black skirts made from material that was probably sent from heaven, and Jin was following behind them in a destroyed Lakers shirt and blue pajama pants that were too short for him. 

He had been ordered to drag along three duffle bags, and they were heavy to the point that Jin heard both his shoulders pop. They reeked too, but every time he asked about the smell, Jihyo shut him down. After a solid twenty minutes of dragging the bodies, they arrived somewhere. 

“Are we going the right way?” Jeongyeon groaned. 

“Um,” Jihyo scratched her head. “Left?”

Tzuyu looked disappointed. They turned right, and now it looked like they arrived. Jeongyeon bounced ahead of them, curling her fingers into a leaf-covered blanket. 

“Jesus Christ.” Jin dropped the bags. He held onto his shoulders, trying his best to massage the pain away. “What is in there? Bodies?”

Tzuyu grinned at Jin. Jin thought she was creepy. 

“Bodies.” She confirmed. Jin stopped his rubbing and stared at Tzuyu in horror. 

“Kim Seokjin!” Jihyo’s voice boomed through the forest. She had the loudest voice of all the girls, Jin had noticed. “Put the bags in here.” 

Jin looked away from Tzuyu, and at a massive contraption in the midst of trees and beds of leaves. “What is that?”

Jihyo pulled a lever on the massive thing, and it sounded like air valves were being opened. Jeongyeon, who somehow had matches, struck a match with the bottom of her shoe. She opened the terrifying thing, and threw the flaming match inside. It caught on fire with a roar, blowing Jeongyeon’s hair and making Jihyo stumble back. 

“Are these actually bodies?” Jin felt ill.

All three girls stared at him. “We said we can’t tell you anything.” Jihyo narrowed her eyes. “Go, put the bags in.”

Jin, with one final effort, heaved and put the first bag in. “If it starts smelling like flesh,” Jin panted. “I will run away and call the cops.”

He threw in the second bag, and then the third. Jihyo shut the door and turned some weird thing, and Jin assumed it was to lock it. After three minutes, there was a deathly smell of flesh in the air.

Jihyo whisked then away, and Jin followed them, eyes wide with fear.

“No worries.” Jeongyeon turned around to console him. “Only the bad guys.” She assured him vaguely, as though burning the corpses of bad people was the cure-all to Jin’s churning stomach. 

Jin just nodded at her. _Crazy bitches._ Is all he could think.

Their next destination was their massive garden. Jeongyeon had politely told Jin they ate all sorts of organic food, as they could not go out to buy any. “It must suck to be you guys.” Jin had told her. 

“Pull out the carrots.” Jihyo told Jin. “There’s gardening gloves, but they might be too small for your hands.”

Jin felt like dying. For an entire hour and an extra thirty minutes, Jin was bent over pulling carrots out of dirt and tossing them into baskets. 

“Hurry up!” Jihyo called. She, Jeongyeon and Tzuyu were sitting at a little table across from the harvests, a seven foot tall umbrella shading them. 

“I’m gonna kill that woman.” Jin snarled under his breath. He kept picking the carrots.

Jin was lucky that the trees were big enough to shield him from the summer sun’s malicious rays, but he was sweltering even without the sun beating down on him. Once he presented Jihyo with the carrots, she demanded he pulled the potatoes. 

They went back to the house late into the afternoon. Leaves crunched beneath high heels and Jin’s shoes, and it was the only sound for half of the walk. For the other half, Jihyo, Tzuyu and Jeongyeon had been talking, but they turned their heads and gave Jin suspicious looks, and they stopped talking. Eventually, they made it to what looked like the back porch of the massive house. 

Mina was on the back porch. Jin remembered her face distinctly, as her features were way too beautiful to be a Korean’s. She was dressed in the same lacy white, but instead of black bottoms, she had a floaty dress. She smiled sweetly at Jin as he and the girls made their way up the steps.

“Mina!” Jeongyeon said in excitement. Jihyo hooked her arm with Mina’s, and she greeted them. 

“Kim Seokjin.” Mina said gently. She held out his clothes, and Jin was surprised at how gracefully she moved. “I cleaned your clothes. I got your measurements from the clothes, so I’ll make you a new outfit for tomorrow.”

Jin accepted the clothes with wide eyes. He bowed hurriedly to her. “Thank you.”

“How old are you?” 

“Twenty eight.” Jin informed her. Mina didn’t look much older than him, but he couldn’t tell her age. He assumed older, since they weren’t using any honorifics.

All four of the girls stared at him. 

“Ah,” Mina chuckled awkwardly. She bowed to him instead. “ _Oppa_.”

Jin’s heart skipped a beat, and his face flushed red. “Uh,” He stuttered. “How old are- are you guys?”

“Nayeon is the eldest.” Tzuyu giggled. “She’s twenty five!” 

“You’re making me feel like a fossil.” Jin deflated, and the girls all laughed. Jihyo didn’t look so amused. 

“I’ll go get changed.” Jin excused himself. The four girls followed behind him. 

“Are you getting changed with me?” Jin tried to joke. He appealed to everybody again, except for Jihyo. 

“In case you run off.” She said curtly. He walked past the living room and kitchen, down the hall and lead the girls up the winding staircase to Nayeon’s room. 

“There! Now I won’t run off. I’m in Nayeon’s room!” Jin said, looking relieved. They blinked at him. 

“Let’s let him get changed.” Mina resolved, and gave Jin a final smile before turning and padding down the halls with Jeongyeon and Tzuyu. 

Jihyo lingered. “You don’t have any... ulterior motives here, right?” She quirked her eyebrow. 

“Motives?” Jin chuckled. “Like what?”

“Come downstairs once you change.” Jihyo sniffed. “Help me make dinner.”

Jin gladly ran into Nayeon’s room. As quietly as he could, he locked Nayeon’s door. Jihyo seemed to have heard, as Jin heard her heels click as she walked away. 

He let out a sigh of relief. “They’re all crazy!” Jin moaned, shaking his head vigorously. He turned around, and peeled off his sweat-drenched shirt. _Where is Nayeon?_ He wondered if she’d let him take another shower. He looked around for her, wiping the sweat from his chin as he did. He spotted her after a couple of searches; she was asleep on her huge bed, pillows surrounding her and enormous blankets tucked beneath her. She looked sweaty. 

He went to take a shower, not wanting to wake her. Once he was done, he was happy to put on his normal clothes. He stepped out, drying his hair with a hand towel. 

“Kim Seokjin!”

“Ah!” He shouted, dropping his towel. “You scared me!”

Nayeon’s eyes darted to Jin’s stomach. She seemed disappointed to see his pink sweater was covering it. “Mina washed your clothes?”

Jin nodded, smiling at the thought of Mina. “She’s like an angel.” He told Nayeon. She gave him a suspicious look, and as she glared, Jin noticed how much shorter Nayeon was than he was without the heels. 

“How tall are you, Nayeon?” Jin asked. Nayeon stared at him with more suspicion. “Why are you talking down to me?”

“Tzuyu told me I’m older than all of you.” Jin informed. Nayeon gasped. “No you’re not! You look younger than I do!”

“I think we look the same age.” Jin grinned.

“How old are you?” Nayeon demanded to know.

“Twenty eight.”

Nayeon seemed to choke on her spit. “Oppa?” Nayeon struggled to say the word, as though she couldn’t believe she had to call him that. 

“Oppa.” Jin’s grin grew wider.

“I need to take a shower.” Nayeon muttered, ducking her head in embarrassment. She gave Jin a small bow, and hurried into the bathroom.

Downstairs, Jihyo had already started cooking. Jin approached, and saw she was boiling soup.

“What are you making?” Jin asked. 

“Vegetable soup.” She replied. “So, Kim Seokjin from Gwaecheon. You were raised in the countryside?”

Jin nodded. 

“How many friends do you have?” She went on.

“Six.” He replied.

Jihyo gave Jin three, thick carrots. “Chop these up. Sorry for the questions. If we tell our boss you’re here, he’ll come and wipe your brain himself.”

“Maybe you should tell him.” Jin rolled up his sleeves. Jihyo handed him a knife. “I won’t be a prisoner that way.”

“He’ll erase all your memories.” Jihyo snorted. “You won’t even know how to walk. It’ll be like... reverting back to an infant. A twenty eight year old infant.”

Jin winced. “Please don’t tell your boss.” He reached for a cutting board. Once he set it up, he went to wash the carrots. 

“We won’t.” Jihyo promised. “He’ll try to erase the memories we have with you too. He did it once with Momo when he found out she had a boyfriend, but losing memories leaves you out of balance for a couple weeks. It’s really risky too. If something goes wrong, you could lose really vital memories. Momo lucked out.”

“Vital memories?” Jin paled. He forced himself to keep washing. 

“Don’t worry.” Jihyo assured. “Dahyun doesn’t do it as bad as our boss. It’s a fifty fifty chance though. You can either never remember us again, or you’ll wake up and there’s a chance that if something triggers your memory, you’ll remember us. We’ve only done it with one person, because he turned out to be the wrong guy. His memory was triggered, so we had to kill him.”

“What?” Jin choked.

“It’s okay!” Jihyo laughed. “We found out he was a rapist.”

“I’m not a criminal.” Jin coughed, shaken by the amount of startling information. He turned off the faucet; the carrots were clean. “Don’t kill me. I’ll keep totally quiet about you guys.”

“We’re discussing what to do if you remember.” Jihyo said as she stirred the broth. Jin started to chop the carrots. “Chaeyoung says we should kill you. The vote almost passed, but Nayeon said she’d run away and turn herself into the cops if we did.” 

“She did?” Jin put down the knife in awe. He was touched. 

“Do you have abs by any chance?” Jihyo asked. Jin continued to chop, smiling thanks to Nayeon. “I do. Why do you ask?” He said airily.

“She shared a room with the last guy too.” Jihyo pulled out a knife of her own, and a separate cutting board. She dumped already washed potatoes on the board, and smiled at Jin. “She said to just murder him after he stayed for one night. Later we found out he had a soft stomach.” 

“Maybe he tried something on Nayeon.” Jin suggested. “You said he was a rapist, right?”

“If he did, Jeongyeon would know.” Jihyo laughed. “She’d kill the man herself.”

“Are Jeongyeon and Nayeon dating?” Jin asked bluntly.

“No.” Jihyo chuckled. “Dahyun is convinced they are. They’re really close though.”

“They’d be a cute couple.” Jin walked over to the pot of soup, and slid in the carrots from his cutting board. 

“Can you season it for me?” Jihyo called. 

“Yeah.” Jin agreed. “I know you’re not supposed to tell me, but I need to know. What do you guys do for a living?”

“We’ve already given you a bunch of hints.” Jihyo snorted. “You can’t connect the dots?”

“I can!” Jin protested, stirring the seasoning in. “You guys kill bad guys. That’s it?”

“Pretty much.” Jihyo shrugged. “I think we all trust you too much. We already gave away our purpose in under a day.”

“I don’t even know where I am.” Jin mumbled. “How could I get you guys in trouble if I remembered you?”

“You could remember our faces.” Jihyo was done chopping potatoes. She scraped them into the pot. “Describe them to the police. We’re done for if you do that.”

“Sounds like you guys don’t have any civil files though.” Jin mentioned.

“Our boss says we’ve been filed as dead. That’s why we can’t leave here.” Jihyo told him. 

“Then how do you find people and kill them if you can’t leave?” Jin asked.

“Come on, no more questions!” Jihyo urged. “We’re telling you too much!”

“Just a little more!” Jin teased. “Should I keep stirring?”

“Go set the table.” Jihyo waved him away. 

Girls descended from the stairs in their night gowns and messy hair. Each one looking sleepier than the other, they touched bare feet onto the cold ground and trailed into the dining room. They took their seats, and each one of them bowed to Jin. Jihyo snickered at the sight, setting down the pot of soup in the middle of the table. She set down a plate of rice, then a smaller plate of fruit and another one of grilled chicken. 

“ _Oppa_!” They all crooned in sing-song voices, and it was the only thing Jin heard the entire evening. They liked to use the honorific at random times. Even when they didn’t want to say anything to Jin, they’d call him by the honorific anyways.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Jin told the girls shyly. “I’m your prisoner. It’s sort of awkward.”

“Oppa, do you want more chicken?” Momo ignored him completely. 

Finally, the girls retreated into the living room. Jin was free of Oppa for now, but at the expense of having to clean up. 

“ _Oppa!_ ” Sana was calling for him. “Come here!”

Jin put down the dishes and obeyed. He poked his head into the living room, and saw the girls sprawled on white couches. Sana and Momo sat beside the fire place with Nayeon, while Jihyo sat on a princess-like arm chair, sorting through what looked like files. 

“ _Oppa!_ ” Came the chorus. “Come sit here!” Dahyun demanded. Jin reluctantly sat by her, and she leaned in close enough that their noses could touch. 

“I knew you were handsome.” Dahyun grinned. She pulled her face away and threw an arm around Jin instead. “Seokjin, you were an actor before this?”

Jin nodded. “Model too.” He added.

“No wonder you’re so handsome! You’re five ten, aren’t you?” Dahyun kept grinning. 

“How did you know?” Jin smiled awkwardly, stiff to the touch.

“I saw Mina taking your measurements. I just guessed.” Dahyun shrugged. “You’re really tall. My neck hurts when I talk to you without heels.”

“Have we ever talked without your heels?” Jin asked, still awkward.

“Sorry about her.” Jeongyeon called. “We don’t usually have any guys over!”

“You kill them all the time though.” Jin frowned.

“Killing them doesn’t mean we’re having them over!” Sana giggled. “Wait. How did you know we kill guys?”

“It’s sort of obvious.” Jin confessed. 

“We don’t really _kill_ them.” Nayeon murmured, looking sad. “We just sort of give them to the dogs. Plus, we only kill really bad guys.”

“Why are you saying all that?” Jeongyeon glared at Nayeon.

“You have dogs?!” Jin gaped. Momo nodded, happy to talk about dogs. “We have five! They’re all wolf dogs. Our boss doesn’t let us feed them, and that’s why we kill so many bad guys.”

“You kill bad guys,” Jin paused. “To feed your dogs?”

“And to make the world a better place.” Jihyo added. 

“Really bad guys!” Nayeon insisted. “Like rapists! And murderers! And sex traffickers!” 

“We’re making the world a better place!” Sana said cheerily. 

_Through murder?_ It’s good these girls were destroying bad people, but they still remained insane in Seokjin’s eyes. 

“ _Oppa_ ,” Tzuyu called. “Do you have social media?”

“I do.” Jin told her. Tzuyu lit up. “Really? How is it on there? I haven’t logged on since I was fifteen!”

“Tzuyu.” Jihyo called her name in warning. 

“I know, I’m just asking. I’m twenty now, so I haven’t been online since I was sixteen. Please tell me what I’ve missed!” Tzuyu implored.

“Have you ever had Instagram?” Jin leaned in to talk to the younger girl. Tzuyu nodded excitedly. “It’s not blue anymore. It’s completely white. The messages turn purple and blue.”

“Oh my god!” Tzuyu gasped. 

“Oh my god.” Jin agreed. “Twitter? You know how it was always white?”

Tzuyu nodded, leaning towards Jin. 

“You can make the layout _black_.” Jin breathed.

“No!” Tzuyu cried.

“Yes!” Jin laughed. 

“Memes,” Tzuyu bit her lip, eyes glossing with pain. “Are they still around?” 

“They make zero sense nowadays.” Jin whispered to her. Their faces were so close in the intensity of the conversation, that Jin could feel Tzuyu holding her breath. “That’s what makes them hilarious.”

Tzuyu fell back in shock. Jin cackled at her demise, and realized all the girls were leaning in with wide eyes. Even Chaeyoung, who had listed Jin as a certified liar, was listening attentively. Only Jihyo was uninterested, still sorting through files of men to kill. 

“Do you have your phone?” Dahyun asked hesitantly.

“I do. It’s in Nayeon’s room.” Jin told her. “But it’s dead.”

“Wow. I remember when my phone used to die.” Momo said dreamily. “What model do you have? Is it the iPhone seven?”

“No.” Jin grinned. “I have the iPhone XR.”

The girls stared at him in disbelief. “What does XR mean?” Chaeyoung asked, eyes bulging in shock.

“I have no clue.” Jin smiled. “And you know dramas right? You guys have to remember dramas.”

“I knew I remembered your face! You act in dramas!” Dahyun shouted. 

“Have you acted in any famous ones?!” Jeongyeon cried.

“Of course I have!” Jin roared. “Do you remember True Beauty?”

“There’s no way.” Mina covered her mouth.

“You were Suho!” Nayeon pointed at him, and Jin bathed in the excited chatter of the girls that ensued. 

“You were so handsome!” Tzuyu whined. 

“How was it? Kissing Jugyeong? She’s so pretty, it must have been amazing!” Sana gushed. 

“Were you in any other dramas?” Jeongyeon interrupted.

“Do you remember Cheese in the Trap?” Jin grinned. The girls fell back in a clamor of squeals.

“There’s no way you were Jung!” Mina looked overjoyed. “Wait, wait, wait, I need to ask. Do you know EXO?”

“I’m friends with Suho.” Jin said, happy with the excited attention. 

“Oh my god!” Mina squealed. “How are they? Are they doing well?”

“Lay went inactive.” Jin broke the news.

“What?!” Mina cried. “You’re kidding! But he- But the boys love him! He can’t have left!”

“Korea was having political issues with China, and Lay was an ambassador for some Chinese youth brand.” Jin explained gently. “If he stayed, he could’ve lost all his chinese fans. But it’s okay, because he always says he’s still apart of EXO. I heard he even called Xiumin to say goodbye.” 

“Say goodbye why?” Mina was teary eyed now.

“He left for the military. He and Kyungsoo did in 2019.” Jin told her. Mina looked heart broken. She ducked her head, and Nayeon laughed at her as she hugged her friend. 

“But it’s okay! Kai’s an ambassador for Gucci, Suho’s about to release a solo album, Chen and Baekhyun released solo albums, Sehun and Chanyeol made their own album, and all six of them dropped an album called Obsession last November.” Jin recited every bit of EXO information he knew. Jimin was Kai’s best friend, and when Jumin started talking about Kai, he wouldn’t stop- the two had met through Jin, and it was like love at first sight for the pair of dancers.

“They’re all doing well then?” Mina  
sniffled, eyes shiny with tears. Nayeon was still hugging her shoulders, rocking her back and forth.

“Better than ever.” Jin promised. He leaned past Dahyun, and wiped away Mina’s tears. She smiled gratefully, and moved to wipe her tears in his place. 

“ _Oppa_ ,” Momo tugged on his sleeve. “Do you know Lee Minho?”

The girls followed Jin like ducklings up the stairs. They parroted shocked responses and begged to know more and more and more- Nayeon pushed Jin inside her room, said good night to her friends despite their complaints, and locked her door. 

“Brush your teeth!” Nayeon demanded, and the two went into the bathroom. Angrily, Nayeon brushed her teeth. Scared he might die, Jin picked up the toothbrush Nayeon threw at him, and slowly put on toothpaste. 

“I can’t believe them!” Nayeon fumed. 

“What did they do?” Jin asked slowly, starting to brush his teeth.

Nayeon stopped brushing her teeth and glowered at Jin. She opened her mouth to say something, then furiously went back to brushing her teeth. “Men!” She raged. 

Nayeon brushed her hair at her vanity. Jin stood awkwardly by the bathroom; it seemed many of his actions he fulfilled awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if he should sit, talk to Nayeon, die or live. 

“Go lay down!” Nayeon demanded, and Jin hurried to comply. He ran to the couch, and gladly jumped on. 

“Not there!” Nayeon yelled. 

“Then where?” Jin blurted. 

Nayeon stood up abruptly, hair a mess. “My bed!”

Jin did not get the chance to change his clothes. He went into Nayeon’s bed, and after she turned off the lights, she climbed in with him. They were a couple feet apart, considering the size of her bed, but it was awkward nonetheless. 

“Jin.” Nayeon mumbled, having a change of heart after her burst of anger. “Do you miss your home?”

“Every hour I’ve been here.” Jin said honestly, looking up at the roof of Nayeon’s bed. It was empty. 

“Does... your house fit more people?” Nayeon asked quietly. Jin, confused on what she was asking, replied honestly again. “It fits a lot of people. It’s a big suite.”

“When you get out of here,” Nayeon continued slowly. “Will you miss us?”

Briefly, Mina’s pretty face flashed in Jin’s mind. “A little. Just a little bit.” Jin confessed. “I kind of wish I didn’t have to forget about you guys. I’d come give Mina EXO’s newest album if you’d let me remember her.”

“Mina?” Nayeon echoed. She changed the subject completely. “Do you like your friends?”

“They’re the only people I love.” Jin declared with a smile. “There’s Namjoonie, and he’s a producer at my company, and Yoongi is too! Jungkook is the youngest- you have to see his muscles-, he signed on as a producer for my company with Namjoon and Yoongi, and they’re about to produce music for our newest idol group. Jimin, he runs a rice cake shop, and they taste like heaven- and Hoseok, he’s a big dancer, he choreographs for every idol group there is! He and Jimin work on a lot of choreography together- I think they’d be amazing idols, since they’re the best dancers I’ve ever seen. Hoseok and Jimin, Hoseok raps so crazy and Jimin sings like a god, so Yoongi always tells them to feature on their tracks! And Taehyung, he’s a model and he’s an actor too, for my company! We were in True Beauty together!” Jin rambled excitedly. His eyes shone as he spoke of his friends, and when he rolled around to face Nayeon and keep talking, something stopped him. 

Nayeon was turned away from him. Her bare, slender shoulders rose and fell peacefully, hair pooling behind her. She was not Jimin. She was not Namjoon, or Hoseok, or Yoongi, she was not Taehyung or Jungkook. She wasn’t his sister or his mom, she meant nothing to him. All he knew about her was that she was holding him captive, murdered people and has been stuck in this house with no contact to the outside world.

An icy cold feeling crept into him. He sat up in the bed, more afraid than he’d ever been.


	2. Chapter Two

He wandered downstairs, sweat beading on his forehead. He started thinking the impossible; what if there was a way out? He padded into the kitchen. It was the only thought on his mind.

“Oppa?”

Jin looked up to see Mina’s surprised face. “I thought you went to sleep!”

“No.” Jin smiled, wiping his forehead. “No, I couldn’t sleep.”

“It must be scary.” Mina soothed. “But Nayeon isn’t mean. She misses the outside world too. Don’t be too scared of her, okay? She’s probably got a lot of feelings right now.” 

“Why can’t you guys get out of here?” Jin met her eyes. _Why can’t I just get out of here?_

Mina shook her head. She jumped off of the stool. “It’s just something we can’t tell you.” She murmured sorrily. “Cheer up! I made you some pajamas!”

“What?” Jin’s eyebrows furrowed. “How did you make them so fast?”

“I was working on some clothes for you to wear all day.” Mina confessed, looking a bit shy. “Here! Try them on!”

Jin accepted them. “They feel like silk.”

“They are silk.” Mina smiled elegantly. “Do you like them?”

“I love them.” Jin managed to give her a smile. “Should I go try them on?” 

“Let’s go upstairs together.” Mina yawned. “I’ve been up since six!”

Jin glanced at the time. “It’s already twelve!” He looked back at her. “You might die if you don’t sleep right now!”

Mina giggled happily. “Don’t tease me!” She said, and walked ahead of Jin. She was still giggling.

They shared a comfortable silence, which was one of the things that had actually been comfortable the entire time Jin had stayed, as they walked up the stairs. Mina broke it with ease though. “Jihyo and Jeongyeon are thinking about letting you leave tomorrow.

“Tomorrow?” Jin couldn’t help but sound excited. “I... I mean, when did you talk about that?”

“When you and Nayeon went to bed.” Mina said. “We went to Chaeyoung’s room to talk for a little bit more, and we started talking about you!”

“All awful things I hope?” Jin joked. Mina laughed. 

“The worst.” She assured. “Surprising thing is that nobody wanted you to leave. Jihyo brought it up, but nobody said a word! Sana kept asking if anybody had a phone charger.”

Jin chuckled at that. “Sounds like Sana.” He remarked. “I’m flattered though! It only takes a couple of hours for everyone to fall in love with me.”

Mina rolled her eyes. “Stop with that!” She smiled, and nudged Jin. Jin would nudge her back, but he was afraid he’d knock her over. They finally reached the top of the stairs, and Mina’s room was the first in the hallway. 

“Looks like this is good night.” She smiled up at Jin.

“Maybe we’ll have another.” He shrugged. “Dahyun’s hypnotic skills could be rusty tomorrow.”

Mina laughed. “Good night, Kim Seokjin.”

“Call me Jin.” He told her instead of a good night in return. 

“ _Jin_.” She teased, and retreated quickly into her room. 

“ _Jin_!” 

Who could be using honorifics on him at this time in the morning? Jin rolled onto his shoulder to try to avoid whoever was calling him.

“Seokjin!” 

Jin’s eyes snapped open, infuriated. He lifted himself up, only to find Dahyun hovering over him. 

“Good morning!” She grinned.

“Still not dropping the oppa?” Jin groaned.

“Should I talk down to you then?” Dahyun tilted her head. 

“All of you annoy me.” Came Jin’s brutal confession. 

“Come on! Get up!” Dahyun rolled off of Jin and onto the floor. “Jihyo’s making breakfast already!”

Jin glanced at Nayeon. She was still sleeping. He turned around, and angrily hushed Dahyun. “She’s asleep!” He said.

“So?” Dahyun put her hands on her hips.

“I’ll go downstairs when she wakes up.” Jin fell back into the expanse of feathery pillows. 

“Why are you even sleeping in Nayeon’s bed?” Dahyun pestered him some more. “She would never let you do that. Did you sneak on? It’s better if you get off now, while she’s still asleep.”

“She told me to sleep up here!” Jin snapped. “Go tell Jihyo I’ll be down in a second.”

“Fine!” Dahyun rolled her eyes. “You’re only nice to Mina! So annoying!”

“I am not only nice to Mina!” Jin hissed as Dahyun stormed away. “I love you!”

“I love you more!” Dahyun raged, and slammed Nayeon’s door as she walked out. Jin shook his head, and pulled the blankets over himself. Concerned Nayeon might be cold, he pulled the blanket over her too, until her shoulder was out of sight.

Just as he was going to pull his hands away, Nayeon stirred. She switched sides, and when she was facing Jin, he choked at the sight of her tears. They rolled across her face, slipping past her nose bridge with ease and dripping onto her pillow. 

“Nayeon... What’s wrong?” Jin gaped. 

“I want to get out of here too.” Nayeon wept, her voice barely audible. Her face scrunched, and she looked as though something was hurting. Panicked, Jin reached to wipe away her tears. Was she actually in pain.

“I miss my mom and dad.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the way her tears streamed revealed how desperately she wanted to sob and scream. “I miss my dog. I miss my phone, and my computer, and I miss tteokbokki, and I miss bulgogi, I miss listening to music- Jin, you _have to get me out of here_!”

Her fingers wrapped around Jin’s hands, which cupped her cheeks as he wiped his tears. “ _Get me out of here!_ ” She heaved, her nails digging into Jin’s hand.

“Shhh,” Jin hushed, pulling Nayeon close to him. “They’ll hear you.”

“They won’t tell!” Nayeon cried, and she buried her face into Jin’s shoulder. “I know they won’t!”

“I don’t know how to get us out of here, Nayeon.” Jin whispered to her.

“But I do.” She croaked.

After that, Nayeon didn’t say anything. Jin helped her out of bed, and she thanked him. She brushed her hair, put on her make up and earrings and went to pick out her clothes. When she was finished tying her hair, she turned to Jin with a trembling lip. “When I blink twice at you, that’s your sign.” 

“What am I supposed to do?” Jin murmured. 

“Just follow me. That’s all.” Nayeon’s eyebrows were set in a distressed look. 

The girls had loosened up around Jin. He took a seat next to Mina, and he was immediately included in the conversation. They laughed and shared food, and Mina constantly picked up rice and bacon and pressed it onto Jin’s chopsticks. Nayeon sat to the left of Jin, eating her scrambled eggs in silence. 

“And so I said _cock and ball torture._ ” Tzuyu finished telling the story with a shy smile, and the table burst into laughter. Jin, red in the face, choked on his food on how funny Tzuyu‘s story was. 

Chaeyoung laughed, but quickly looked bitter. Jeongyeon informed Jin that Chaeyoung was not funny at all, and it became apparent after Chaeyoung tried to crack a couple of unsuccessful jokes, leaving the table straight faced. 

“What is cock and ball torture?!” Dahyun shrilled with laughter, pounding her fist on the table.

“I’m getting sick!” Jihyo panted, collapsed in her chair.

“Nayeon,” Jeongyeon called. Nayeon looked up from eating her rice. “You’re so quiet! You’re not even laughing!”

“That’s weird.” Chaeyoung remarked. “Nayeon laughs like her heart gave out.”

“She collapses on the floor when she laughs,” Dahyun told Jin, nodding to him with a smile. “It’s like she’s having a seizure.” 

“Sorry.” Nayeon gave them a little smile. “Long night.”

Jin was happily eating his food, smiling as he was still thinking about Tzuyu’s story. Once he noticed the table was dead silent, he looked up, realizing all eighteen pairs of eyes were fixed on him. 

“What?” He pouted his lips innocently. 

Breakfast ended with piles of funny stories and vain attempts at getting Nayeon to crack a smile- and most importantly, no double winks from Nayeon. Every one helped out with washing the dishes, and Jihyo dismissed the girls to get ready for the day.

“I’ll have some jobs ready once you’re done!” She called as they trailed out. 

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” Jin and Jeongyeon shouted as they walked down the corridor. They were in a heated battle of rock paper scissors, as Jeongyeon was infuriated that she lost the last round. 

“Ah!” Jeongyeon groaned. She had shot scissors while Jin shot paper. “I thought I figured out your pattern!”

“I’m completely random.” Jin bragged. “I’m probably the best Rock Paper Scissors player ever.”

Tzuyu abruptly turned around. She stuck out her fist as if it were a challenge, to which Jin accepted. They locked eyes, and Jin felt a twinge of terror upon seeing the look of death in Tzuyu’s eyes.

“Rock paper scissors shoot!” Jin shouted. They went four rounds as they traveled up the stairs, eventually gaining more and more attention from the girls as Jin made more noises of defeat. 

“You’re insane!” Jin let his hands go. “I quit! You win!”

“Come to my room so we can play!” Jeongyeon demanded. “You didn’t go your hardest on me!”

“I don’t go hard on pretty girls.” Jin told her flirtatiously. Jeongyeon’s jaw went slack as she attempted to say something. Frustrated, she stormed off to her room. 

“Seokjin, come hang out with me!” Momo gave him a big smile.

“I should go with Nayeon.” Jin rejected gently, glancing at his friend. She was staring at the window at the end of the hall.

“Come on! I’ve got a lot to tell you!” Momo pleaded. 

“How about I go with Nayeon, and I go to your room in ten minutes?” Jin compromised. Momo stared suspiciously at him as she made her decision, and finally, she slumped her shoulders. “I’m counting the minutes!”

“Alright!” Jin agreed he split with the girls, following the dark faced Nayeon into her room. 

“Don’t get close to them.” Nayeon mumbled as she locked her door. “It’ll just get them sad once you go.”

“Better to enjoy the present.” Jin shrugged.

“You’ll forget them anyways.” Nayeon whirled past Jin and to her closet. She left the door open as she sorted through her clothes. 

“You’re close with them too.” Jin argued. “And you want to leave.”

Nayeon paused. She looked to Jin, a hurt expression on her face, then kept sorting the clothes.

“I’m sorry.” Jin muttered. “That was kind of mean.”

“Forget it.” Nayeon shook her head. She picked her clothes, and stormed back into the room. She stood still as she laid her dress on the bed. “Do you... Do you think we could convince the girls to go with us?”

“I honestly don’t think so.” Jin moved to sit on Nayeon’s bed. “They all seem to really like it here.”

Nayeon looked to Jin, eyes shimmering. “They don’t.” Nayeon promised. “They hate it here. You know what I caught Jihyo doing the other day? She was drawing a picture. Just like a little kid would, Seokjin. It had stick figures and trees and the sun, and you know what I saw?”

Nayeon threw her dress aside and crawled onto the bed. She made her way to Jin, who leaned backwards in response. 

“She drew herself, and she drew two other people, and she labeled it mom and dad.” Nayeon’s tears caught in her lashes. Jin had the urge to wipe them away, and despite doing it this morning, he suddenly wasn’t sure if Nayeon would like it. 

“She’s been here since forever, Seokjin.” Nayeon wept, her face contorting with her sadness. “Our boss is _insane_. He kidnapped all of us in order to kill people for the greater good. He convinced everybody that they’re chosen for a reason, Seokjin, _a reason!_ ”

Jin didn’t feel the tear that rolled down his cheek. He stared at Nayeon in horror, watching her miserable expressions shape her face. 

“You need to _help us!_ ” 

“Is this why you didn’t want them to kill me?” Jin’s voice broke. “So I could break you out?”

Nayeon’s fingers curled into Jin’s arm. “I didn’t believe you could at first. I- I didn’t even think about it, but after I saw you telling everybody about dramas and social media, I knew you could. I knew you could break them out of the trance they’re in.” 

Jin reached his hand on impulse and wiped away Nayeon’s tears. “Stop crying.” He begged. “I don’t know if I can do it, Nayeon. I don’t know.”

“You can.” Nayeon’s eyes opened, her eyebrows knit together. “I’m gonna help you, okay? I’m gonna try to convince the girls let you stay for longer- Please, just say you’ll help!”

“I’ll help.” Jin cried, shutting his eyes tight in attempt to stop his tears. “I’ll help you.” 

There was a banging on the door. Quickly, Nayeon wiped away her tears. She sprang to her feet, took Jin by the wrist and ushered the both of them to the door. 

Quietly, she unlocked it. Equally as silent, she opened the door. Forgetting to wipe his tear stained cheeks in his confusion, Jin looked down at Nayeon for answers, but he would receive none. 

Chaeyoung’s frightened face appeared behind the door. Her eyes darted to Jin, and she took Nayeon’s hand in her hands. 

“You need to get him out of here,” Chaeyoung whispered. “He’s here.”

Nayeon froze, her reddened face growing pale. “Stall for me.” Nayeon asked, and Chaeyoung nodded. Chaeyoung looked to Jin with pitiful eyes, “Stay safe.” She whispered, and Nayeon’s door was shut again. She locked it as per usual, and looked around the room in terror.

“Who’s here?!” Jin whispered, alarmed. Nayeon looked up at him. “My boss is here.”

Jin’s confused expression fell. Out of all the feelings he’d gone through during his stay at Nayeon’s wooden mansion, he had never felt such shit inducing _fear_. He couldn’t utter a word. 

“Hide under the bed.” Nayeon whispered.

“Isn’t that an obvious place to hide?” Jin’s legs began to bounce. 

“Exactly.” Nayeon whimpered. “He trained us so that we don’t hide people in obvious places. He’ll look in all the places he’d think I’d hide somebody. Just go!”

“Your face!” Jin exclaimed quietly. “It’s still red! Nayeon, we should- let’s just get out of here through the window, okay? We’ll run far, and-,”

Nayeon put her finger to his lips. “He’s here.” She mouthed, her face ghostly. Jin tip toed away from Nayeon, and as quietly as he could, he slid under the bed. Above him, the mattress dipped just as silently as Jin had hidden under the bed. 

_Shit._ Jin clenched his fists. _She’s gonna fake sleep_

Now was an important time for Jin’s acting skills to kick in. For today, he had to play dead. It was hard enough when he heard the lock opening, and the doorknob rattling sent shivers down his spine- but he managed to slow his breathing and stop his fidgeting. 

“Nayeon?” The boss sounded like a jackass. “Are you asleep?” 

Jin could only pray Nayeon was a good actor. He couldn’t see the boss’s feet, thanks to the drapes covering the bottom of Nayeon’s bed, but he could definitely hear the stick of bare feet walking against the marble floor. 

The mattress alarmingly dipped. Jin suddenly felt on edge, realizing how close to Nayeon the person was. The mattress had dipped in the middle of the bed, where Jin was, and Nayeon’s boss had settled and deepened the slight dip. 

“Nayeon.” A voice crooned. Jin almost cringed at the unsettling way he spoke. “You’re not sleeping.”

There was a thud, and Nayeon made no noise. There was a gentle shift in the mattress, and Jin heard Nayeon’s voice. 

“Boss?” Nayeon was good at faking a morning voice. Jin was impressed. “Why did you hit me?!”

“Sorry, Nayeon.” The boss sighed. “It’s just that you girls are such good liars. I had to check if you were really sleeping.”

Hit her?! _Who hits girls?!_ Jin fists curled in rage. He looked up at the dip in the mattress angrily, wondering if he should punch through it and beat the man up with his sole fist. 

“Why was the door locked?” The boss went on.

“Sorry. You know it’s a habit of mine.” Nayeon giggled, and Jin was almost fuming at the fact that Nayeon could even muster a giggle after being hit. 

“You’re all lying to me.” The boss chuckled. Suddenly, Nayeon whimpered. “You’re all lying to me about something... but I know everything that happens in this house. You girls can’t lie to me... I know you can’t. So what is it?”

“Or rather,” The boss drawled. Nayeon’s whimpers amplified into quiet moans; but it was the kind that sounded like she was in pain. “ _Who_ is it?”

Jin closed his eyes and started praying. He prayed for God to tell his friends that he said goodbye, and prayed for God to allow him easy access into heaven. 

_God, I hope you forgive me. I’m about to commit the gravest sin of all. I’m going to destroy this whole room and kill Nayeon’s boss. Please be on my side, God, for I believe only scum bags and sinners hit women._

Nayeon let out a shaky breath. The pained moans ceased. “Please stop.” She rasped, and Jin’s eyes opened in fury. Had that asshole been choking her?!

Someone got off of the bed. He figured it was the boss, as Nayeon’s dip in the mattress hadn’t changed. Jin heard the stick of feet, and nothing else. Was he opening doors? Was he staring at Nayeon? 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jin saw a shadow. The hairs on his neck raised, and he sharply turned his head.

Nobody was there. 

Above Jin, there was a quiet gagging. It sounded like Nayeon was throwing up. His fingers twitched with a desperation to help her, but he knew getting up would only bring trouble for Nayeon and all the girls. 

“I’ll be back.” The man promised. The stick of feet continued, and once Nayeon’s door open and shut, Jin crawled desperately from beneath the bed. He sprung up, and hurried to Nayeon’s side. 

She looked awful. Her face was white, and a sizable puddle of puke next to her leg was soaking through the blankets. She was trembling from head to toe, and a deep color of red was blossoming on her nose. Blood dripped from her nostrils, and when Jin pushed her hair away from her face, he saw the same red marks on her neck, and they looked incredibly similar to bruising finger prints. 

“Fucking asshole.” Jin cursed beneath his breath. He bent over the puke and blood, and tucked an arm beneath Nayeon’s legs and another behind her back. 

“Stop.” Nayeon groaned. As Jin lifted her off the bed, the blood from her nose streaked down her cheek. “Please... he’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Then I’ll be with you for ten minutes.” Jin mumbled, stepping off of the bed. 

“Seokjin, please.” Nayeon’s voice broke. She closed her eyes, and Jin’s heart broke at the sight of a single tear running from the side of her eye. “He’ll be back.” 

“I work fast.” Jin promised in a whisper. He held Nayeon as delicately as he could, and moved to lock the door. 

“This isn’t fast.” Nayeon wept silently. Her head hung lifelessly from the crook of Jin’s arm, and he tried his best not to make his movements slower to keep her head from moving. He opened the door to the bathroom, and set Nayeon on the counter.

“Lock it.” Nayeon wiped her tears. Jin did. 

“I can’t believe it.” Jin spoke aimlessly as he got what he could to clean up Nayeon. “You’ve got three out of four liquids on your face. Blood, puke and tears. All you’re missing is pee.”

Nayeon let out a strangled laugh. It sounded like it hurt, so she stopped in the middle of it.

“You’ve got a first aid kit in here!” Jin gasped as he sorted through the cabinet beneath the sink. He got up, contented with the first aid kit, and shut the cabinet’s doors before leaning against the counter. 

“Look at me.” Jin ordered softly. Nayeon turned her head towards him, and he wiped off her tears with some toilet paper and proceeded to wipe off the vomit from the corners of her mouth. 

“Gross.” Jin said teasingly. Nayeon didn’t seem to have a reaction. He wet a piece of toilet paper, and wiped off the vomit. He did the same with the blood, but on a separate piece of wet toilet paper. 

“It’s bleeding super hard.” Jin frowned. He met Nayeon’s saddened eyes. “Did it break?”

Weakly, she shook her head. “Just hit really hard.” She said.

“Has he broken it before?” Jin stopped cleaning the blood from her cheeks. 

“I’m the eldest.” Nayeon smiled. “The other girls are too young to get beat up. He broke Tzuyu’s arm and her leg once, so I just... told him to do it to me instead. I said I had a high pain tolerance.”

Jin remained silent. He chewed the inside of his cheek furiously, and stuck toilet paper up Nayeon’s nostrils almost aggressively. 

“Ow!” Nayeon groaned. 

“I’ll get you out.” Jin swore, angry now. “I’ll get you out of here if it’s the last thing I do.”

“The girls too.” Nayeon reminded softly. Jin wiped the tears on Nayeon’s chin with the pad of his thumb. 

“Whoever you want.” Jin agreed in a low voice. He kept his eyebrows set and expression angry as he treated Nayeon. 

“Go back and hide.” Nayeon pleaded. She put her hands on Jin’s shoulders, and tried to push him away. 

“No.” Jin refused, cleaning the blood from her nose. “He cut your nose when he hit you. You need a bandaid on it. Nayeon, I seriously think it’s broken.”

“Seokjin.” Nayeon whined. He pressed a bandaid carefully onto her nose. 

She wrapped her slender arms around his neck. Jin stood still in shock. Did she want him to carry her again?

“Please hide.” She whispered. 

“Okay.” Jin agreed gently. He lifted her up, and she obediently put her arms around his waist. They moved from the bathroom to her bed, and Jin pulled back the dirty covers for her to lay down comfortably. 

“I’ve known you for two days and I’m tending to your wounds.” Jin grinned once she was settled in. He sat on the bed beside her, feeling such great pity that he was compelled to pet her hair away. 

“One night, one day and one half of a day.” Nayeon told him, and she smiled back at him. 

“Maybe my heart softens around ugly girls.” Jin teased. Nayeon stuck out her tongue, and Jin chuckled. He slid off the bed, “Go to sleep!” He whispered, and Nayeon gave him a final smile before rolling onto her side. Jin slipped under the bed again, careful not to make noise.


	3. Chapter Three

Her boss came back, as Nayeon predicted. He made no conversation with Nayeon, and Jin only heard sticky feet wander around the room. He heard the door open and shut, and once again, Jin and Nayeon were left alone.

Nine girls crowded together in the spacious room. Jeongyeon stormed in and tore off the bloody and vomited blankets and thrown them out the room to wash later; Sana gave Nayeon the sweetest kiss she possibly could and brushed her hair; Momo bawled into Nayeon’s hand and begged to know why she was hurt; Tzuyu stared at Jin suspiciously and briefly grilled him with questions on who entered the room at what time; Dahyun force fed Nayeon cookies; Chaeyoung sulked angrily at the corner of Nayeon’s bed; and finally, Jihyo and Mina hovered above Nayeon, checking if the hit had been serious enough to break her nose. Jin sat to the side, eyes on Nayeon.

“I’m okay!” Nayeon insisted with a gummy smile. “It’s just been a long day.” 

“Don’t blame the boss too much.” Jeongyeon pleaded, holding Nayeon’s hand. “You know he only does it because he has a hard time hiding us.”

“He has to take out his frustrations somewhere.” Sana chirped. 

“We were chosen for this. There obviously has to be some hardship.” Mina said as she brushed her finger along Nayeon’s nose. 

The girls nodded. “We were chosen for this.” They agreed in unison.

Jin and Nayeon’s eyes met. He gave her a funny look, and Nayeon gave him a helpless one in return.

As the girls filtered out upon Jihyo’s orders, Chaeyoung pulled Jin to the side.

“Hey.” She greeted.

“Still no honorifics?” Jin smiled. 

Chaeyoung stared at him.

“Sorry.” Jin scratched his neck.

“Thank you for taking care of Nayeon.” Chaeyoung said, and for once, she seemed sincere. “I know she takes all the blows for us.”

Chaeyoung stared at Jin again, her eyes expressing what she meant to say. Jin didn’t completely understand what she wanted to say, but he got the gist of it. 

“It’s really not a big deal.” Jin smiled small. “I just hate stuff like that.”

“Thank you anyways.” She kept staring. Was Jin missing something? 

Jin awkwardly bowed to her.

The afternoon passed like that. They missed lunch with reason, and Jihyo announced she’d cook a huge dinner. After the girls left, Jin helped Nayeon change her bed sheets and cover the bed with fresh blankets. 

“Go sleep.” Jin said softly. 

“It’s hot.” Nayeon protested as she pinned her hair back. She was sitting at her vanity, checking the damage to her skin. She had cheered up after the girls visited. 

“It won’t heal if you don’t.” Jin pointed out. “Then you’ll really be upset with your skin.”

Nayeon turned her head over her shoulder and glared at Jin. She resumed checking the bruises and swells, still dressed in her usual purple night gown.

“Whatever!” Jin fell back onto her bed. “Nayeon. I don’t think I can convince the girls to escape with us.”

“Of course you can!” Nayeon scoffed. “We’ll just need a little bit more time.”

“But the way they were talking when they were in here,” Jin couldn’t find the words to describe the scene. “It was like... Like they didn’t actually care your boss beat you up.”

“Seokjin.” Nayeon put her hands on her vanity, looking crossly at Jin.

“I just,” Jin sighed. “Why can’t it just be you and me? I can help you get settled in, and teach you the Seoul ways... I can even buy a bed that’s as big as this. Actually, I bet my bed is bigger!”

“It can’t be just you and me.” Nayeon clicked her tongue.

“Why not?” Jin groaned.

“Because they’re like sisters to me.” Nayeon said simply. “I‘d die if I were away from them for too long.”

“Ah...” Nayeon sighed, pulling her hair back and inspecting the colored bruises blossoming on her neck. With gentle fingertips, she hovered her index over a bruise, and winced when her finger and neck came into contact.

Dinner came and went. The girls were low energy tonight; not even Chaeyoung had much to say to Jin. They ate all of the dinner they could, and every one helped clean up. Later into the night, Jin would tip toe out of Nayeon’s room, and wander down the hallways. 

Beyond the hall of rooms, there were two other hallways that branched from the window at the end of the hall. Jin picked the left hall, curious to see what else this house had to offer. The left hall was dimly lit; portraits of the nine girls hung eerily on the walls. They were all paintings, exquisitely crafted to look exactly like their counterparts. Each girl had their own portrait, and Jin passed a massive one with all nine of them. He wondered who painted them. 

Jin stopped when he saw a portrait of Nayeon. She had bangs, and her hair was to her shoulder. She was sprawled in a huge chair, elbow on the arm and body sideways as she sat comfortably. Jin felt unsettled when he noticed Nayeon was not smiling; in fact, she looked angry. 

The hall lead to a room of doors. Jin tried to peek inside them, but they were all locked. The only one accessible was the door at the end of the stretch of walls; Jin peered in, and saw a lonely desk beneath a window where the moon shone through.

Upon further inspection, Jin saw crayons on the floor. Papers scattered the wooden tiles, but Jin couldn’t see what was on them. Carefully, he crept into the room. 

The papers had crayon drawings. Jin had crouched down to pick the papers up, and when he realized what was on the paper, became surprised. They were full of color and wonky stick figures with lines for hair and fat, round bodies. A poorly made tree, a smiling sun and grass. 

As Jin kept looking through the pictures, they became less and less innocent. The sun’s smile was replaced with a frown, and the stick figures depicted went from nine people down to one. The scenes became gruesome. Stick figures were bleeding out, being eaten by strange creatures with sharp teeth- in another, a larger stick figure with an evil face drawn on was grabbing a smaller stick figure, who was crying. There were tons of scenes like this. Death and gore were in all of the papers, and the places that the big stick figure was grabbing the crying stick figure became increasingly inappropriate. The stick figures which had been reduced from nine to two randomly increased; nine girls, who looked a lot like the nine Jin knew, were depicted in tears. One girl that looked like Momo had X’s on her eyes, and a random tenth stick figure was crying beside her. 

_You know what I caught Jihyo doing the other day? She was drawing a picture._ Nayeon’s words rang in Jin’s mind. _Just like a little kid would, Seokjin._

Jin turned over the paper in his hand. In sloppy, black crayon, Park Jihyo was written on the back. 

Jin went to the desk next. He opened the drawers, sat in the chair, but found nothing. Every drawer was empty. On the desk, there was a pencil. Jin glanced back at the papers. 

He returned to them, and started to flip all of the scattered drawings on their backs. He looked over them all, and finally found writing in pencil on the back of a drawing. 

_Oppa,_

_If you ever get this letter, please know I am so sorry. I truly thought we could be together. I didn’t know he had eyes in the corners of the woods. Please believe me._

The letter became choppy. Characters were missing and eraser marks smudged black and gray onto the paper. At the bottom, Jin made out _Momo Hirai_.

 _Momo has a boyfriend she sees sometimes._ Jin once again recalled Nayeon’s words. 

It didn’t seem like they still saw each other. 

Jin left the room, unsettled by the amounts of odd information he’d been given. He tried to shake it off, but the memories of Jihyo’s drawing were vivid. Especially the one with Momo and the random stick figure. 

In the afternoon, Jin awoke to Nayeon rustling in the bathroom. 

“Nayeon?” He called, sitting up in the bed. His eyes were sticky with sleep, but he was worried for some reason. 

“Yeah?” She replied. 

“Come here.” Jin called. Nayeon’s head appeared at the bathroom’s doorway, and Jin’s brow furrowed at the ugly sight of black bruises on her nose. 

“I’m disinfecting my cut.” Nayeon said. “You slept for a long time! It’s already two! Dahyun came in five times to wake you up. At what time did you sleep?” 

Jin whirled out of bed and entered the bathroom. Gently, he took Nayeon’s face in his hands and checked her injuries. He lifted her chin, and bent his head to look at the bruises on her neck. They were turning purple, and Jin’s shoulders grew rigid at the sight. 

“What kind of bastard hurts girls?” Jin fumed. When he pulled away, he realized Nayeon was staring at him, red in the face. 

“What?” Jin barked. He did not notice he’d taken Nayeon by the waist. 

“Sorry.” His eyes widened, backing away in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Nayeon chuckled awkwardly, looking away. 

“ _Seokjin_!”

Nayeon and Jin exchanged surprised looks. Who was yelling for Jin so desperately? 

“ _Seokjin, help me_!” The screaming persisted. There was pounding at the door. Nayeon hurried out of the bathroom, Jin on her heels. 

She opened the door, and Momo’s distressed face appeared. Her hair was a complete mess.

“Seokjin!” She sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She threw herself onto him. “Help me! Please help me!” 

“Momo, calm down.” Jin tried to soothe, but she wouldn’t have it.

“You know how to fight, don’t you?!” Momo wailed. “I saw you do it in your drama! You have to fight Jihyo!”

“Momo, stop!” Nayeon gasped. “Think about what you just said!”

“Just come and see!” Momo pleaded, eyes completely obscured by her tears. 

As they ran after Momo, the shouts and arguments rang clear throughout the wooden mansion. Momo lead them into the living room, where crying girls and a furious Chaeyoung gathered, shouting, sobbing, arguing. 

“Nayeon!” Sana cried once she noticed her. “Jihyo’s throwing away Heechul’s letters!”

Jihyo, beyond the crowd of girls, was chucking papers into the fire place, shoving Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon away from her.

“Jihyo!” Momo screamed, falling in on herself. “Stop! Please!”

“Jihyo!” Nayeon shouted. She shouldered past Mina and Dahyun, and grabbed Jihyo by the shoulder with big hands. She shoved her away from the fire place, but Jihyo’s  
grip on the letters was firm.

“Those are Momo’s!” Nayeon yelled. “You have no right to throw away whatever’s hers! Jihyo- Jihyo put it down!” 

“You know why everybody’s so unhappy lately?” Jihyo shrilled, eyes blazing. “It’s because of _Momo’s_ boyfriend! The letters, the sneaking out, it puts everyone on edge! We have to lie about everything whenever the boss comes around!”

“We’re lying so Momo can be happy!” Nayeon cried. “Isn’t that more important than being honest to our boss? Jihyo, just put the letters down!” 

“She has my most recent letter from him!” Momo bawled her fist into Jin’s jeans, looking up at him with tear streaked cheeks. “It tells me when to see him again! Jin, you have to get it!”

“He can’t send you another letter?” Jin choked out, crouching down to level with Momo. 

“No!” Momo wept. “If he sends more than one per year, the boss gets suspicious!” 

“Jihyo, just think about this!” Dahyun pleaded. “What’s burning the letters gonna solve?”

“You’re supposed to be the mature one!” Tzuyu accused from her spot on the couch, tears running down her cheeks. “You’re our leader, so why are you acting so immaturely?! It’s like a child is trying to solve our problems!”

“Be quiet!” Jihyo roared. “I _am_ the leader! So I have the right to do what I want!” 

Momo screamed. She threw her arms around Jin, as if afraid to see what Jihyo would do next.

The fire crackled, the girls screamed, Sana, Tzuyu and Momo sobbed into themselves, Nayeon, Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon shoved and yelled at Jihyo, reaching for the letters. 

“I’ll be right back.” Jin murmured into Momo’s ear. He got up, and stepped over Sana and Mina, (gently) pushed Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung away, and took the letters from Jihyo’s trembling hands. 

“Give those back!” Jihyo lunged for them. 

“Park Jihyo.” Jin recited her name. Jihyo froze- the yelling stopped, and the sobs quieted. 

“What?” Jihyo stuttered. 

“Park Jihyo.” Jin repeated. “That’s your name.”

“I don’t have one.” Jihyo said awkwardly. “A last name. None of us have one.”

“Momo has one.” Jin blinked. “It’s Momo Hirai.”

The room fell silent. Only the snap and grumble of wood beneath fire was audible.

“Sana too.” Jin went on. “Her name is Sana Minatozaki.”

“How do you know our names?” Jihyo’s voice cracked. She stepped back, staring at Jin with shaking eyes. 

“Sana told me her name.” Jin informed. “She told me she’s from Japan.”

“No.” Jihyo’s lip twitched as she tried to make sense of the situation. “You’re wrong. None of us remember anything like that. Our only backstory is this house.”

“You must be wrong.” Jin frowned. “I think you remember a lot of things.”

“I don’t remember anything.” Jihyo said firmly, lifting her nose. “I don’t remember anything past the moment I came here.”

“Nayeon told me she misses her parents. And she misses music.” Jin tilted his head. “Everybody remembers social media.”

“Stop.” Jihyo’s high nose was quickly revealed as an attempt at confidence. Her head fell, and her eyes darted desperately around to find a solution. “Stop it...”

“I saw your drawings.” Jin said simply. “I saw all of them. It looks like you remember a lot, Park Jihyo. You even drew on the back of Momo’s letter. I saw her signature at the bottom.”

“Seokjin,” Nayeon mumbled, tugging on his sleeve to get him to stop.

Jihyo crouched onto the floor. She reached shaking arms to cover her head. “Stop...” She groaned. 

“Chaeyoung, what’s your last name?” Jin asked, glancing at the shorter girl behind him.

Chaeyoung stared, her mouth ajar. “I... It’s...” She looked confused for a moment. She closed her lips, and studied the floor. “I... do have one. It’s Son Chaeyoung.”

“Park Jihyo.” Jin called. “Do you want to get out of this place?”

Jihyo’s shivering stopped. Even the fire seemed silent. 

“Your drawings. All of them were of really awful things.” Jin’s eyebrows furrowed. For the first time, he felt his heart squeeze with pity; Jihyo was trembling on the floor, unsure of herself, unsure of her identity. Jin could only imagine what it must have been like for her. 

“People getting eaten. Some guy terrorizing your stick figure. Did you draw Tzuyu’s arm and leg being broken?” Jin’s voice cracked. He could not hide the sadness in his voice as his questions grew more and more painful. “Where was that stick figure touching you, Park Jihyo?”

Jihyo fell onto her side. She rocked herself slowly, her big eyes screwed shut as she murmured inaudible things to herself. 

“Do any of you want to get out of this place?” Jin stepped back to look at the girls. They met his eyes, whirlpools of emotions in their faces. Fear, astonishment, confusion, every emotion fathomable was visible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just want to say that everybody uses honorifics on each other! it’s just not written in the fic, because it’s too much work... When the girls say “Seokjin”, they’re still using the oppa honorific ^^ When they say Kim Seokjin, it usually means there’s that little Kim Seokjin-ssi at the end lol. The girls all refer to the older girls as unnie and etc too! Just not written down <3


	4. Chapter Four

Jin helped the girls carry Jihyo to her room. He gave back Momo’s letters, and she hugged him tightly.

“I’m from Japan too.” Momo whispered excitedly, her sad eyes shining. “I remember.”

He bid the girls good evening, and they bowed in response, retreating to their rooms with equally bewildered faces after the afternoon’s events. Before Jin could follow Nayeon into her room, Mina stopped him.

“Seokjin.” She said, eyes wide. She stuck out her arms, which had piles of clothes neatly folded onto them. “I made you your clothes.”

He smiled at the sight of Mina’s clothes. “For me?”

Mina smiled, eyes gleaming. “For you.” 

Nayeon and Jin were left to their own devices. Jin was enjoying the comfort of his new pajamas. After showering, Nayeon decided to trade her purple silk nightgown for a blue, silk night gown instead.

Jin’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her come out of the bathroom with wet hair and her dress so high on her thighs it barely covered anything. 

“I haven’t changed in a long time.” Nayeon snorted.

“I think the purple one had a little bit of puke.” Jin joked, but had no time to wonder if it was true. He was busy trying to hide his blush. Nayeon didn’t notice, and threw a sock at him instead.

They passed the evening together, as it was quietly decided Jin and Nayeon would spend time away from the girls. Nayeon showed Jin all her jewelry, and he smiled as she slipped on a variety of silver earrings. 

“What?” Nayeon blinked up at him.

“It’s pretty.” Jin said. “The earrings are.”

Nayeon narrowed her eyes, but said nothing else. “Oh! Mina made us all lipstick too!” She hurried to show Jin her lipstick, which was shut tight in a clear pot. 

He watched as she put on her lipstick with a brush, and felt something in him grow weak. He watched her with a shaking leg. 

“How does she make all of it?” Jin scratched the back of his neck. It was burning up.

“I never asked her, but I think the boss might have taught her.” Nayeon hummed. “Oh! Should I put lip stick on you?”

“I look better than models when I have lipstick on.” Jin warned her, leaning against her vanity. 

“You are a model.” Nayeon laughed. “I doubt you look better than I do. Okay, pucker up!”

She unscrewed the lid, and reached for the brush. As she did, Jin let his puckered lips fall in order to push her hair behind her ear.

“Wear a hair tie.” He scolded, and went back to puckering his lips. Nayeon glared at him, but got her brush and started to paint his lips anyways.

“Your lips are so thick!” Nayeon complimented. “I don’t know, Seokjin. I think if I modeled you’d lose your job. You’re pretty, but I just think I’m prettier.”

“You are prettier.” He said. What the hell? He meant to say _he_ was prettier. “Than a cow.”

“Kim Seokjin!” She gasped. “Should I let you go sleep with the dogs?”

Jin laughed. “No! Please forgive me!”

“Just stay still.” Nayeon clicked her tongue. “You were right! You look really good with red lips.” 

She pulled away, and Jin stared at her while she stared appreciatively at his lips. “Should I put mascara on? Maybe earrings?” She chattered, but Jin couldn’t quite hear her. He was busy looking at her as she put away her lip stick and rummaged through her make up. 

“Here! I’ll give you my earrings.” Nayeon gasped. She turned around to present Jin with pretty, dangling feather earrings. They were silver, and glinted charmingly in the light. 

“For me?” Jin frowned. “You should keep them. Mina made them for you.”

“I have one hundred pairs.” Nayeon told him flatly. “I’ll put them on.”

Jin opened his mouth to refuse, but Nayeon was already leaning over him and grabbing his ear. Jin closed his eyes and tried to stop his heart from racing. 

“There! You look so pretty.” Nayeon cooed, and he wondered if she saw how red his face was. Overwhelmed by feelings, he reached his hand up, brushing the pad of his thumb along Nayeon’s nose. 

“When will the bruise go away?” Jin’s voice broke.

“In a couple of days.” Nayeon was wide eyed. “What are...”

“Nayeon,” Jin’s eyes were glossy. “We’ll still be with each other in a couple of days, right?”

“What are you saying?” Nayeon rolled her eyes. “Of course we’ll still be with each other.”

“If your boss comes again,” Jin’s hand slipped from her nose to her waist. “Then we have to get out of here Nayeon. It has to be just me and you.”

She was silent. Then, she nodded. “Okay.” She agreed quietly. “Okay.”

“I miss my phone.” The lights were off, and the pair had settled into Nayeon’s bed. They had nothing better to do, so when the night fell, they resolved to settle down.

“You get used to it after a while.” Nayeon shrugged. “By the way, your phone wasn’t dead when you got here. It was at two percent.”

“Two percent?” Jin frowned. “I think you’re lying. I checked it and it was for sure dead.”

Nayeon shrugged in the darkness. “It’s in Chaeyoung’s room. I don’t know if it’s dead or not.”

“Can I have it back before I get out of here?” Jin asked.

“Of course.” Nayeon scoffed. “What kind of question is that?”

“I’m starting to think anything is possible.” Jin sighed. “Nayeon... Do you think I was too harsh to Jihyo?”

“No.” Nayeon assured after a moment of thought. “The way our boss convinced us into believing we don’t have pasts, last names or anything was really intense. It’s been so long since it happened that everybody’s starting to have cracks here and there. I think that’s why they remembered social media so well.” 

“And Sana? She remembers everything.” Jin said.

“She’s always remembered everything.” Nayeon chuckled. “I think she was distracted during the brainwashing.”

They laughed. As their laughter died away, Nayeon decided she wanted to keep up the conversation. “You know what I miss?” She sighed. “I miss the sky.”

“Can’t you see it all the time?” Jin thought of the tightly knit trees and branching foliage outside. “Oh. Maybe not.”

“The leaves make it really hard to see any stars.” Nayeon complained. “But it’s okay. I have a really good memory of it.”

“I’ll show you all the stars when we get out of here.” Jin’s promise came quietly. Nayeon’s hand, limp on a pillow between them, was suddenly occupied by Jin’s hand.

“Don’t you think you’re too affectionate with me?” Nayeon smiled teasingly. 

“I am?” Jin squeezed her hand, feigning innocence. “I think I could be more affectionate.”

“You can’t be too affectionate!” Nayeon’s beaming smile was clear in the dark. “The girls will think we’re dating.”

Jin had inched closer to Nayeon. His face was close to their intertwined hands, and he could see Nayeon’s happy expression better from this distance. His heart was racing- and he wasn’t too sure why. 

“Don’t fall for me.” Nayeon warned. “I’m out of your league.”

“You are.” He had no idea what he was saying. “You’re way out of my league.”

Jin never knew a girl could make him feel this way. He’d dated plenty of girls, but none of them made him feel quite as anxious. One thing he’d never confessed to was a girl being way out of his league; and he was telling it to Nayeon now. Not that he’d ever tell any of this to Nayeon- he figured he’d tell her that when they were living together in Seoul. 

“Seokjin?” Nayeon called. She was way closer than she had been. Jin could feel her shallow breath on his nose.

“Nayeon.” He replied, suddenly feeling helpless. They were so close, that if Jin leaned just a little closer, they’d kiss. 

“What are you thinking about?” Nayeon whispered.

“You.” He breathed. It felt as if they had to hold each other by that point; Nayeon put her arms around Jin’s neck, and he moved his arms around Nayeon’s waist so smoothly, it was like he’d been holding her that way the entire night. 

“Should we kiss?” Jin murmured, eyes lidded. He held his breath as Nayeon’s face lay beside his. 

“I don’t want to.” Nayeon rejected, studying Jin’s face. “It means we have to fall in love.”

“I don’t mind it.” Jin sighed. “I don’t mind it if it’s you.”

“Let’s not kiss.” Nayeon pushed, but her lips were brushing against Jin’s. 

“I want to.” Jin told her. 

“Why are you acting like this?” Nayeon smiled. “So random...”

“I don’t know.” Jin confessed. “I think it’s the way you look in your dresses.” 

“The ones I wear to sleep?” Nayeon laughed.

“Those ones.” Jin confirmed. 

“I thought you looked so cool.” Nayeon mumbled, and their lips kept brushing. Even their noses were touching. “You fought Jihyo for Momo. You even grabbed the letters from her.”

“I don’t want to talk about Jihyo and Momo.” Jin let out a shaky breath. “I wanna talk about you.”

“And when you held me by the waist,” Nayeon giggled, looking shy. “You got so mad over nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing!” Jin protested. 

Nayeon’s arms slipped from Jin’s neck, and she pressed her hands against his cheeks.

“You’re so cool.” Her breath was hot against Jin’s lips. 

He inched closer, until their lips were only centimeters apart. Nayeon’s breath hitched- then their lips met, and it was like nothing Jin had ever felt before.

Nayeon sucked at kissing. Truly, she did. But her lips were soft, and her breath was hot, and Jin would be lying if he said he didn’t like how innocent she was to this. She was stiff in his hold, but Jin didn’t mind taking the lead. He let his hands roam up and down her back, and kept the kiss as gentle and slow as he possibly could. Jin didn’t want to pull away. There was no possible explanation for pulling away, but he did. 

“Why?” Nayeon choked, her closed eyes fluttering open. “Why did you stop?”

“You’re so cute.” Jin groaned, and their lips were pressed together again. 

Jin opened his shirt and let Nayeon touch his abs- she was too shy to do it herself, so Jin guided her hands. He tried to be as cool as possible when Nayeon’s legs were exposed for him to touch, but he felt his hands shaking as he rubbed her thigh. 

“I’ve never done it before.” Nayeon said breathlessly beneath him after a long while of kissing and touching, her lips swollen. 

Jin put his face into her neck and hugged her waist as tightly as he could. “Don’t think like that.” He pleaded. “I’m a gentleman.”

So, Jin was not expecting Sana to wake him up half naked while he was cuddling with Nayeon. She had shaken him awake, and he opened his sticky eyes reluctantly. He almost jumped at the sight of Sana so close to his face, but kept it under control for Nayeon to sleep peacefully. 

“Seokjin!” She smiled so brightly that it hurt Jin’s eyes.

“What time is it?” He let his head fall back onto the pillow. He glanced at the window, and saw the blue light of dawn filtering through.

“Six!” Sana grinned. “Did you and Nayeon... Do it?”

Jin’s eyes were wide open again. “Oh shit.” He muttered, glancing down at his bare torso and Nayeon sleeping on his chest with her underwear exposed. “Sana, I can explain. I am a natural cuddler in my sleep, and I get really hot when I sleep too. I take off my shirt before I go to bed, so this probably looks _really_ wrong, but it is _not_ what it looks like.”

“It’s okay!” Sana giggled. “I won’t tell! Seokjin, I’m here for something else.”

“What? Breakfast isn’t ready, right?” Jin tried to slow his heart as he spoke to Sana, having taken a scare from Sana finding them out.

“No.” Sana shook her head. “You’re going to leave without Dahyun’s hypnotics, aren’t you?”

Jin called in every last drop of acting skill he had to help him through this encounter. “Leave without Dahyun’s hypnotics? Why would I do that?” He said, acting cool. 

“I want to leave with you.” Sana said. “Please let me leave with you.”

Jin’s face fell, and so did the thoughts from his head. “Leave? Leave with me?”

“Momo wants to go too.” Sana nodded. “Even Chaeyoung!”

“And the rest?” Jin asked hopefully. Things were looking up! “How about Tzuyu? And Jeongyeon? Dahyun? Jihyo probably won’t, right? Mina?”

“I don’t know.” Sana shrugged. “Only Momo and Chaeyoung told me anything. We really want to leave with you.”

“You’re serious?” Jin lifted his head to look at her. “This isn’t you going undercover?”

“I’m really serious.” Sana’s eyes, for once, were sincere. They were usually half opened with her silly smile, but Jin could see what she meant today. He knew the difference between acting and sincerity.

“I’m gonna tell you this, but it’s just for you to know.” Jin said. “Nayeon wants to leave with all of you.”

Sana’s eyebrows raised. “All of us?”

“I wanted for us to leave quietly together.” Jin went on. “But she said she’s gonna die without you guys. There’s no way to convince the girls to come with us?” 

“Everybody’s stuck in the mindset of they have to be here.” Sana sighed. “And that they’re here for a purpose, and don’t need paths, and all those things. The brain washing never worked on me too well, and Momo being with Heechul broke her out of it. I don’t know how Chaeyoung remembers, but you probably triggered something last night! It’ll probably be really hard to get the other girls.”

“Should we just knock them out and take them?” Jin suggested.

Sana giggled. “No!” She hit Jin on his bare arm. “I’ll help you convince them. I’ll even ask Momo and Chaeyoung to help.”

“Really?” Jin’s eyes brightened.

Sana nodded adorably. “We’ll talk later! I’m gonna go back to bed!”

“Good night, Sana!” Jin cooed, sending her a wink. 

“Good night!” Sana waved to him. 

As she shut the door, Jin settled back down. He kissed Nayeon’s head briefly, pulled the covers over them, and went back to sleep.

When Jin woke up again, Nayeon was at her vanity. He sat up, smiling sleepily at the sight of her wiping away Jin’s lipstick marks. 

“Seokjin!” She smiled once she noticed him. Jin opened his arms, motioning her to come to him. She happily put down her make up wipes and jumped into the bed. Jin laughed as she crashed into him, and he hugged her tightly as they rolled around the bed.

“Did you sleep good?” He kissed her forehead. 

“Best sleep I’ve ever had.” Nayeon swore, and they both giggled as they kissed. 

“Why don’t you stay in bed with me?” Jin sighed, pushing her head under his chin. “You always get up so early.”

“Everybody gets up early here.” Nayeon said as she put her arms around Jin’s waist. “I like you so much, Kim Seokjin.”

“I think I might like you even more.” Jin smiled, nose pressed into her hair. 

“We should hurry and fall in love.” Nayeon said. 

“We should.” Jin agreed, pulling her closer. 

“Will you introduce me to your friends?” Nayeon went on. 

“I’ll show you off to all of them.” Jin promised. “I think my mom’s gonna love you. You laugh so much and eat even more, so I think you’ll be her favorite person. My dad will probably love you even more. He’s been bugging me for a daughter-in-law, and I’m gonna bring him the prettiest daughter-in-law on earth.”

“Don’t we get married right after meeting parents?” Nayeon pulled her head out of Jin’s chest, smiling up at him.

Jin kissed her. “So cute. Nayeon, you came here in 2015, right? I’m gonna show you all the new stuff you missed. Everything’s super cool, Nayeon. You’re gonna love it.” 

“Do you have all the cool stuff?” Nayeon asked.

“No.” Jin said. “But I can buy it all for you if you want it.”

Nayeon kissed him instead of a response. They blushed at Nayeon’s sudden impulsiveness, and they were giggling again. 

“Seokjin,” Nayeon propped herself up. “Did you leave the room early this morning?”

“No.” Jin shook his head. “But Sana came in to talk to me.” 

Nayeon blinked. “Sana came in? Did you get up during the night.”

“I was with you the whole night!” Jin said flirtatiously, grabbing her waist and leaning in to kiss her cheek. 

“Stop!” She giggled. “I always lock the door when we come in though. And Sana doesn’t have my key.”

Jin opened his mouth to speak, but grew confused. “Nayeon, she came in to talk to me about leaving with us.”

“What?” Nayeon stuttered. “Leaving with us like... She knew we want to leave?”

“She said Momo and Chaeyoung wanted to leave with us too.” Jin frowned. “Nayeon, I think I said something wrong.”

“I’m gonna go find Chaeyoung.” Nayeon said seriously. 

“Should I talk to Momo?” Jin bit his lip. “Nayeon, what if she tells your boss?”

Nayeon sat up. Jin had no time to marvel at her bare shoulders and long hair as he usually did, as he was terrified of what he’d told Sana. He sat up beside her. 

“Who told the boss about Heechul?” Nayeon looked over her shoulders and met Jin’s eyes.

“No way.” His face faltered. “There’s no way!”

“Go talk to Momo and ask if Sana said anything.” Nayeon turned to face Jin. “If anything happens, or if you see the boss anywhere...”

“Nothing will happen. It’ll be fine.” Jin assured, and got up from the bed. Nayeon followed suite, and moved to stand in front of Jin. 

“Be careful.” Nayeon stood on her tip toes.

“I will.” He promised, and bent down to kiss her. 

Jin knocked on Momo’s door. He was tempted to rattle the doorknob, but he heard a lock turning. 

_Do all the girls lock their doors?_ Jin thought. Momo appeared behind the door, looking surprised. 

“Seokjin?” She said. “It’s nine in the morning! What are you doing up?”

“Am I usually not up at nine?” Jin grinned.

“Never.” She smiled. “Come in!”

Momo’s room was colored pink; the wooden walls were painted a peachy color, and the room, which was set up similarly to Nayeon’s, darkly framed bed with pink sheets and dark couches and furniture to contrast the mass amounts of pink. 

“I love pink too.” Jin said, happy to see so much of the color. “My room is completely pink.”

“Really?” Momo smiled. “Jeongyeon always comes in here and bags at me for having too much pink...”

“Never enough pink.” Jin shook his head. “I did a photo shoot with my friends, and we were completely dressed in pink. It was the best time of my life.”

Momo laughed a little at that. “My boyfriend used to be an idol, and did a lot of photo shoots. He shows me all of them on his phone. Do you know him?” 

“Heechul is his name, right?” Jin thought for a second. “No way. It can’t be that Kim Heechul! The pretty one?”

“The pretty one!” Momo agreed excitedly. “That’s him!”

“I hear Super Junior makes a lot of money.” Jin winked at her. “Could you be living a good life soon?”

Momo smiled airily. “I wish! But Seokjin, why are you here?”

“Momo.” Jin shut the door behind them. “Did Sana talk to you about anything by any chance?”

“Sana?” Momo tilted her head, as though she were thinking. “Oh! Um... No, not really. Yesterday we talked about peaches though.”

“Peaches can be a conversation topic?” Jin frowned. He shook his head. “Never mind. Thank you Momo.”

When Jin went back to Nayeon’s room, she was sat on her bed. She got up once she noticed he was there, a worried look on her face.

“Chaeyoung said Sana never talked to her.” Nayeon said.

“Momo said the same thing.” Jin locked the door behind him.

“What do we do?” Nayeon pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Seokjin, should we go? Should we get out of here?”

Jin went to her, and put his hands on her elbows. “Hey... Hey, look at me. Nothing’s gonna happen, okay? Even if your boss comes here, I’ll beat him up and we’ll get out of here.”

Nayeon let out a shaking breath. Jin hugged her, and felt awful when he felt Nayeon’s trembling arms wrap around him. “It’s okay.” He soothed, petting her hair. “Don’t shake like this. It’s like you’re a leaf. Are you cold, Nayeon? Should we go back to bed?”

Nayeon laughed, and the trembling of her arms faded away. “You make it better.” She said, pushing her face into his neck.

“I’ll make everything better.” Jin sighed contentedly, happy to be holding Nayeon in that moment. He wondered if he could freeze time and stay that way forever- but a knock on the door interrupted.

“Nayeon! Seokjin!” Dahyun was hollering from behind it. “Breakfast!”

Nayeon and Jin sat as far away as they could from Sana. Nayeon also told Jin not to be affectionate during breakfast, to which he called her ridiculous for thinking so. Nonetheless, Jeongyeon noticed Jin packing food onto Nayeon’s bowl, and she gave him a weird stare.

“Stop it!” She whispered into his ear.

“My bad.” He pouted. He stopped with the food, and reached for her hand beneath the table instead. 

“I need to eat with my right hand.” Nayeon hissed into his ear.

“Nayeon!” He whined quietly. Nayeon rolled her eyes, and provided a solution by putting her foot over his. 

“This is stupid.” Jin muttered under his breath. Nayeon put a piece of bacon on his rice.

“Seokjin!” It was Tzuyu. “When you were Jung, did you have feelings for Hong Seol?”

“No.” Jin smiled, noticing Nayeon’s horrified glare. “She wasn’t my type.”

“I told you!” She pointed a finger at Chaeyoung, who rolled her eyes. 

“Seokjin, did you have feelings for the actor you were with in your BL drama?” Mina called, blinking innocently at Jin. “You had really good chemistry!”

“That’s true!” Tzuyu gasped. “I loved that drama! It’s so rare to see really famous actors do stuff like BL.”

“You were in a gay drama?” Chaeyoung perked up.

“Was it that one with the kissing scenes every single minute?” Jeongyeon suddenly said. Nayeon choked on her food.

“That one!” Tzuyu snapped her fingers. 

“Sounds disgusting!” Dahyun fake gagged at the thought of constant kissing scenes.

“I had no feelings for him either.” Jin said loudly. “He was really handsome though. I’ve acted with a lot of people, and I think he was the best looking. Best kisser out of all of them too.”

“You were really in a gay drama?” There was a little smile on Chaeyoung’s face. “That’s cool. Most guys are assholes about that kind of stuff.”

“I love the gays.” Jin waved her off. “Transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, I don’t care. Life’s too short to just be straight.”

“Then are you gay too?” Dahyun grinned. 

“I could be a little.” Jin smiled back at her. When he returned to eating his food as the girls carried on their chatter, Nayeon was giving him a side eye.

“Really?” She grumbled. “He was the best kisser?”

“You’re better.” Jin swore into her ear. “Your face is prettier than any of my co-stars.”

Nayeon pulled away from him, trying to look angry. But Jin was happy to see the smile break on her face.

“What do you guys keep whispering about?” Jeongyeon muttered.

“She got her period!” Jin announced cruelly. 

“What?” Nayeon’s purple face grew pink. The girls burst into laughter. 

“Did she stain the bed?” Jihyo laughed. “Nayeon stained the bed!”

“No! Stop, I didn’t!” Nayeon whined.

“Nayeon feels like the youngest sometimes.” Tzuyu shook her head, looking like she was thirty four.

“Let’s leave her alone!” Jihyo sighed with laughter. “I’ve actually got some stuff to assign. Sana and Jeongyeon, I want you two to set up the prison room for our next guy. He’s a big one, so bring out the proper materials. Nayeon, I know your face is really bruised, but I want you to get dressed and go out to get you moving anyways, okay? Go with Momo and Mina to tend the gardens please. No heavy work, just watering and flower food.

Dahyun, we’re gonna go together and scout the areas to lure the guy. And Kim Seokjin! It’s like you’re one of us now. Go with Tzuyu to the lake and go fishing. We’re low on a lot of food...” 

Fishing! Jin beamed at the thought of fishing. “I like to fish.” He said aloud, looking happy.

“That’s it. Finish up breakfast and get dressed for the day.” Jihyo have the girls a thumbs up, and they returned it eagerly.

Jin got dressed in one of Mina’s outfits, and was content with the selection of slacks and a white long sleeve. “We’ll look like a couple!” He said to Nayeon excitedly. 

“All of us look like a couple.” Nayeon scoffed. “We all wear the same colors.”

“Why is it black and white only?” Jin asked, sitting on the bed as Nayeon got dressed. 

“They’re elegant colors I guess.” Nayeon shrugged. “It’s boring wearing white and black everyday though. My favorite color is purple... I used to have purple skirts, and berets and dresses! Looking at my closet is sad to me.”

“I’ll buy you everything purple.” Jin told her. 

“Is that what you say to all your co-stars too?” Nayeon called as she slipped off her dress. Jin looked away shyly; she didn’t have a bra on. 

“It’s just what I say to you!” Jin said. “I’ve never liked any of my co-stars like I like you!”

“Sure.” Nayeon clicked her tongue. “I bet that’s what you say to all of them.”

“Nayeon!” Jin pouted. Nayeon gave him a look over her bare shoulder, but Jin only saw it for a second before looking away with red ears. 

“I’m not even naked.” Nayeon said in exasperation. “You’ve probably seen lots of girls naked though.”

“There’s not a single naked girl I’ve seen that’s prettier than you.” Jin swore.

“So you _have_ seen tons of girls naked.” Nayeon chuckled, and Jin’s face fell. 

“No! I mean, only a few. Sometimes.” Jin shook his head. _I’m a freaking idiot_. 

“So annoying.” Nayeon suddenly mumbled, and Jin grew instantly alarmed once he heard her sad tone. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Jin stood up.

“You’ve seen a bunch of girls naked.” She muttered as she zipped up her black dress. “You probably dated a bunch of girls too. But you’re the only guy I’ve ever even held hands with.”

“What’s bad about that?” Jin smiled at her. 

“What do you mean?!” She groaned, bending over to pick her shoes. “Of course it’s bad! You have all this experience and I don’t. I’ve never seen a guy’s chest in real life!”

“Good.” Jin said. “I’m glad you’ve only ever seen my chest. All guys are bastards, Nayeon. You’re lucky I’m a gentleman.”

“But you’ve seen other girls naked.” Nayeon complained under her breath, fitting her feet into her heels. 

“They’re nothing compared to you!” Jin declared. “All the girls I’ve ever been with are like a little pile of poop next to you. Poop that really stinks.”

“Seokjin, literally my only purpose is to kill bad men.” Nayeon stood up to look at him. “I’m sort of a murderer.”

“It’s not like they’re good guys.” Jin said, not paying attention at all. He was pondering on how Nayeon could be so beautiful in just a plain black dress. 

“That doesn’t make it better!” Nayeon groaned again, running a hand through her hair. Jin walked to her, and gathered her in his arms.

“You’re so cute.” He sighed, kissing her head. “You know that?”

“I do.” She nodded, relaxing in his hold.

“I like you so much.” He went on. “So much that it feels like you’re the only girl I’ve ever kissed. And you know what? You’re the only girl that makes my heart beat fast.”

“Really?” Nayeon looked up at him.

Jin pet her hair. “Really.”

“You should see me naked.” Nayeon hurriedly put her head back beneath his chin. “We should hurry up and do it, so it’ll feel like I’m the only girl you’ve ever seen naked.”

Jin laughed, and hugged her as tightly as he could despite her protests. “Nayeon! You’re just the cutest woman alive!”

“I’m serious!” She said.

“Kim Seokjin!” There was a rapping at the door. It seemed knocks liked to interrupt all of Jin and Nayeon’s moments. “Hurry up in there!”

“Tzuyu?” Jin called.

“Yes!” Tzuyu shouted. “I’m waiting!”

“I don’t want to go!” Jin whined quietly, jumping in place.

“Just go!” Nayeon ushered him. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“That’s too long!” Jin complained, and put his head on her shoulder. “I need to see you all day today!”

“All day?” Nayeon laughed, and hugged him instead. “Just go! Tzuyu is scary when she’s angry.”

“I don’t care.” Jin mumbled, hugging her waist. “It’s hard to be away from you.”

“Stop it!” Nayeon giggled, and she scratched (in the soothing manner) the back of his head. “Hurry and go. We’ll be together the whole night.”

“Okay.” He gave in, and stood up reluctantly. Nayeon smiled at his pouty face, and squished his cheeks between her hands. 

Jin kissed the palm of her hand.  
“Big hands...” He sighed happily. “Yours make my heart flutter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon and Jin action... I wonder if I should make the chapters longer


	5. Chapter Five

The woods were a scary place. He’d seen the vast amounts of leaves and gangly sticks covering the dried grounds, but he hadn’t gone as far as seeing the healthy black tries gray out and thicken into slanted trees with empty branches, hanging low from their origins. In fact, when he looked up, he could see the sky through the crowding of sticks and gray trees.

 _Tzuyu seems to know her way around._ He thought as he followed her through the thickets. She weaved expertly through the trees though her head was craned up to staring at the sky. _Why doesn’t Nayeon come out here to see the stars?_

“Seokjin!” Tzuyu called from ahead. “Do you have any handsome friends for me?”

“I’ve got a couple.” Jin thought of Jungkook. Tzuyu was his type. “Tzuyu, do you remember your last name?”

“What a random question.” Tzuyu scoffed. “I do. Zhou Tzuyu. I’m from Taiwan, and I had a dog named Gucci. I remember everything.”

“Seriously?” Jin’s eyebrows raised. “Wait. But you probably think you’re here for a purpose, right?”

“No.” Tzuyu said. “I wasn’t brainwashed.”

“What?!” Jin cried. “I mean- why not?”

“I have a really strong skull.” Tzuyu explained, ducking beneath a branch. She was careful not to have the fishing rods get stuck. “The words and tools never got through my skull. His hypnotics aren’t that good. They’re on Dahyun’s level. He’s just good at convincing people to believe what he wants them to believe. It’s more like thought manipulation than anything.”

“You guys have really mixed stories. Jihyo told me he wiped all of your guys’ memories when he found out she was dating, but you guys still remember Heechul.” Jin sighed. “Nayeon said there’s cracks in everybody’s memories.”

“It’s just like I said.” Tzuyu said peacefully. “Thought manipulation. He’s tricking everybody into being afraid of him. Do you really think he can erase memories?” She laughed at the thought of it.

“I wouldn’t doubt anything after meeting you guys. I’d even believe in time traveling if some one told me they’re from the future.” Jin mumbled. Tzuyu looked over her shoulder. 

“I’m from the future.” She said cheekily. “You turn fat and ugly by next week.”

“Will I even be here next week?” Jin said. 

“You might.” Tzuyu said. “We might just hide you forever.”

“Tzuyu.” Jin ducked beneath the same branch Tzuyu had ducked beneath. “If you remember everything, why don’t you run away?”

“We can’t run away.” Tzuyu said simply. The trees broke apart, revealing a massive lake glimmering in the sunlight, surrounded by grainy amounts of browning sand. 

“Why not? You’re afraid?” Jin asked, following her to the same. 

Tzuyu stopped. She looked around, then pointed at a tree. Jin looked to where she was pointing, and saw a bird perched on the branch.

“It’s a bird.” Jin said.

“It used to be a camera.” Tzuyu told him. “Dahyun spotted it and broke it with some rocks. Nayeon took an awful beating for her, saying she asked Dahyun to break it. Boss doesn’t allow her further than the garden.” 

She pointed to the woods. “There’s cameras further out. That’s why Jihyo hasn’t been taking you out anywhere. The further we go, the more cameras.”

“But I’ve been outside!” Jin shrieked. “I helped Jihyo lift bodies and I got carrots and potatoes- Tzuyu, he saw me!”

“There’s no cameras near home.” Tzuyu assured. She handed him a fishing rod. “The boss must be suspicious because you’ve been on the outskirts of where there’s no cameras. The cameras next to the burner are pretty far, but they pick up conversation. If you yelled or screamed, he might have heard.” 

Tzuyu passed bait to Jin. He hooked it onto his fishing rod while Tzuyu cast her line into the lake. 

“Why did Jihyo say Momo doesn’t remember her boyfriend?” Jin asked as they fished.

“What’d she say?” Tzuyu asked.

“She was telling me about how your boss wiped everyone’s memories of Heechul. She said Momo lucked out.” Jin explainer.

“Momo lucked out because he couldn’t wipe her memories.” Tzuyu said. “Oh! I caught something!”

“So fast?!” Jin gasped, almost dropping his fishing rod.

Tzuyu reeled it in. A fish flopped anxiously on the hook, and she scraped it into the bucket. 

“You’re amazing!” Jin cheered. 

“Thanks.” Tzuyu looked proud beneath her emotionless expression. “You want to get out of here with Nayeon, don’t you?”

“Who said that?” Jin tried to be as cool as possible. He couldn’t slip up like he did with Sana.

“Sana’s onto you.” Tzuyu smiled. “Be careful. She’s pretty loyal to the boss.”

“How’s she loyal when she remembers her past?” Jin asked.

“Who said she remembers her past?” Tzuyu cast her line again. “Sana and I used to be idol trainees together. We came to Korea around the same time. They put us in the same dorm. I spoke Madarin, she spoke Japanese, we were both total foreigners. It was easy for us to get tricked and kidnapped.”

“So you told Sana about her past?” Jin look at Tzuyu incredulously. Did she really remember everything? 

“I did. But Nayeon’s right about the cracks in memory.” Tzuyu went on. “There’s a lot of cracks in what we’ve been convinced to believe. Every one remembers a little bit. Talking to you is jogging what we’ve been told to forget.”

“Has Mina always remembered EXO?” Jin asked, remembering Mina’s constant questions about her boys.

“She never forgot for a second.” Tzuyu sighed. 

Jin caught three fish and Tzuyu caught five; he was jealous, but positively impressed. There was a competitor to his title as champion fisherman. 

“You know those reality shows they’ll put actors and idols on?” Jin was telling Tzuyu on the way back. “I starred in so many of them, since fans always ask for me. I starred in one and they awarded me the best fisherman alive.”

“That’s a fake award.” Tzuyu told him bluntly. 

They returned home as Jihyo and Jeongyeon were cooking lunch. 

“Do I smell like fish?” Jin turned to ask Tzuyu. 

“A little.” She said honestly.

“Damn! It’s okay.” Jin shook his head. “See you at lunch!” 

He bid his goodbye and sprinted upstairs, muttering Nayeon’s name in a chant as he did. He swung the door open to their room.

“Nayeon!” He said, and to his luck, Nayeon was on the bed, taking off her high heels. 

“My Nayeon!” Jin said, overjoyed. He locked the door behind him quietly, and ran to hug Nayeon.

“Seokjin! Kim Seokjin! Ow!” Nayeon laughed, throwing her arms around him as he knocked her onto the bed. 

“How have you been?” Jin asked breathlessly, hovering above her. He pet her head. “Was it hard work? Did you pull out a lot of vegetables?”

“I just watered them.” Nayeon smiled, and Jin’s heart squeezed. Her bunny teeth were way too beautiful for him to handle. 

“That’s too much work!” Jin groaned, kissing Nayeon’s face as much as he could. 

“Stop!” She whined, still laughing. “Kim Seokjin!” 

He rolled over, Nayeon resting on his arm. He turned to look at her, affection bright in his eyes. 

“How can someone be so pretty?” He mumbled, pulling a strand of hair away from her mouth. She looked beautiful today- her dress fit her body nicely, and her long hair had grown wavy. She was stunning as always.

“Seokjin,” She hummed.

“Stop calling me oppa!” Jin cried, and he rolled on top of Nayeon again. She squirmed and giggled beneath him as his kisses persisted. “You love to make me crazy, huh? You wanna keep calling me oppa?”

“You’re three years older than me!” She cried breathlessly.

“What? Three years older?” He buried his face into her neck, and pressed a hundred more kisses there. She squealed in delight, pushing his shoulders away. “I look way too young for that!”

“I’m your baby!” Nayeon said cutely, dogging a finger into her cheek.

“Keep doing aegyo and see where you end up.” Jin growled, and pulled her up to hug her. They fell back on the bed as a result, and Jin peppered Nayeon with a couple more kisses before he calmed down. 

“Seokjin.” Nayeon turned on her side to face him. “What do we do if Sana tells?”

“I already told you.” He leaned to kiss her head. “I’ll kill your boss if he comes here, and I’ll defend you from the girls if they feel like killing you.”

“Seokjin.” She pouted.

“I’m serious!” He rubbed her arm. “That’s really my plan.”

“You’ll protect me?” Nayeon narrowed her eyes.

“Mhm.” He nodded. “Come give me a kiss.”

Nayeon leaned over and gave him a peck. He pulled her close, and kissed her on the head again.

“Don’t worry.” Nayeon assured. “I’ll protect you. They’ll try to kill you instead of me, so I have to protect you.”

“Don’t say nonsense.” Jin scolded, and rubbed her back. He thought of what Tzuyu said to him about her taking the hit for Dahyun. “You’re always protecting everybody. It’s my job to protect you now.”

Nayeon didn’t respond. Then, he felt her shoulders heave. 

“Nayeon?” He pulled away from her. “Are you crying?”

She pushed her eyebrows together. “I’m not!” She said, but tears were running down her face. “I never cry!”

He wiped away her tears desperately, and hurried to give her another kiss. “It’s okay.” He soothed, and hugged her again. “It breaks my heart when you cry, but I’ll let you cry whenever you want.”

“You’re so cheesy!” She wailed.

Jihyo served trout for lunch, and it was delicious.

“You could be a chef!” Jin gasped when he tasted it. “Nayeon, eat this!” He hurriedly cut a piece of fish and put it on her plate. 

“I think Seokjin has a crush on Nayeon.” Dahyun put down her chop sticks. “It’s impossible not to believe it. Jin, you know you’re not her type, right?”

“What?” Jin’s jaw went slack. Beside him, Nayeon put her face in her hands. “Not her type? Yes I am. I am one hundred percent her type.”

“I told you!” Dahyun shouted as the girls stared at him in shock.

“You like Nayeon? Really?” Mina gaped. 

“Do you have abs?” Jeongyeon looked furious. “I bet you don’t. He doesn’t have abs! There’s no way Nayeon will ever like you back.”

“I do have abs!” Jin said proudly. The girls were quiet again, and Jin caught Sana staring at them.

“Does _Nayeon_ like Jin back?” Jeongyeon was staring at her friend. 

“Don’t say weird stuff when I’m trying to eat.” Nayeon pleaded. “Look at my face, Jeongyeon. It’s blue and purple. You seriously want to disturb my recovery process? I recover while eating. Do you not want me to be my beautiful self again?”

Jin was tempted to tell her she was beautiful no matter what, but decided against it.

After lunch, Jihyo went out with Momo, and the girls were left to their own accord. Jin washed dishes with Nayeon as the girls played in the living room, chattering and laughing loudly.

“I’m tired of washing.” Nayeon suddenly groaned, letting her arms fall back. Jin flicked the water off his hands, and lifted Nayeon so she could sit on the counter top. 

“Thank you!” She smiled brightly, and Jin checked the area before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. 

“Nayeon.”

The pair looked up to see Tzuyu at the arch way. She spotted Jin, and bowed a bit to him. “Oh. Seokjin, I didn’t know you were here.” She said awkwardly. “Nevermind. It’s good you’re here too.”

Jin turned off the faucet, exchanging glances with Nayeon.

“We should go somewhere private.” She looked to Nayeon.

“Just say what you need to,” Nayeon leaned back to peer past the walls of the archway. “It looks like nobody’s around.”

Tzuyu turned and checked thoroughly. Then, she hurried towards Jin and Nayeon. 

“I think Sana might tell the boss.” She whispered.

He turned to Nayeon. “We need to get out of here.” He mumbled to her, looking her in the eyes.

“Seokjin!” Nayeon hushed, pressing a finger to his lip. 

“It’s okay.” Tzuyu said to Nayeon. “I know everything.”

“Know everything about what?” Nayeon demanded you know. 

“About you two. And the leaving.” Tzuyu said. 

Nayeon and Jin had no responses. They were stiff in their positions, Jin standing close to Nayeon perched on the counter top for comfort. 

“It’s okay.” Tzuyu insisted. “I’m not with Sana or anything. I... I kind of thought about asking to leave with you guys. But that’s not important right now.”

“Leave with us?” Jin perked up. At least one girl would want to leave! He looked at Nayeon to see if the information made her happy, but she seemed lost in thought. 

“Tzuyu, we can talk about this later.” Nayeon said quietly. “For now, keep quiet. I’ll talk to Jihyo when she comes back.”

Tzuyu nodded, looking to obey her elder friend. She gave a curt bow to Jin, “And Nayeon... I think that if you let every one think it over, I think... they’d all figure they want to leave too.”

Nayeon and Jin watched her go. Nayeon turned to Jin, a questioning expression on her face. “How does Tzuyu know we’re trying to leave?” She whispered. “And how does she know about Sana?”

“Tzuyu knows everything.” Jin settled in between Nayeon’s thighs. “She remembers her past too.”

“She does?” Nayeon looked surprised. “There’s no way! She never talks about it!”

“She told me her last name is Zhou Tzuyu.” Jin informed, and Nayeon raised her eyebrows.

“I forgot to tell you. Mine is Im Nayeon.” She said, but there was a worried look on her face. 

Jin kissed her forehead. “Prettiest name for the prettiest girl on earth.”

“We can’t flirt right now!” Nayeon giggled, her worried face slipping away. 

“Nobody’s watching!” Jin said mischievously. “Should we go to the bedroom?”

“And do what there?” Nayeon grinned, putting her arms around Jin’s neck. 

He kissed her arm. “Have fun.” 

“Only a little.” Nayeon giggled. “We need to wait for Jihyo to get back.”

“Mm. We have fun, then by the time we’re done, Jihyo will be back.” Jin said, smiling up at her. 

“What kind of fun?” Nayeon went on as Jin scooped her up. 

“I was thinking reading. You have a big library.” Jin said as he walked to the stairs. Nayeon laughed and shook her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started beastars today it’s dead Ass so lit I might morph into a furry and get married to that wolf mf


	6. Chapter Six

Jihyo returned late into the evening. Nayeon and Jin went to knock hesitantly on her door, letting go of each other’s hands once they did.

It took a moment, but Jihyo finally appeared at the door. She blinked in surprise at Jin and Nayeon.

“What’s happening?” She smiled awkwardly.

The couple went into Jihyo’s room. She had gotten dressed for bed already, wearing those silk night gowns that all the girls seemed to wear. 

“Take a seat.” She motioned to the sofas in the corner. There was no library accompanying it. They seated themselves in silence, and Jin noticed her room was red; red blankets, dark furniture, red sofas... He wondered if the girls modeled their rooms after their favorite colors.

“So.” Jihyo settled next to Nayeon, hands clasped awkwardly together. Silence passed, then Jihyo sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened with Momo.” She muttered. “I know her boyfriend’s letters isn’t what’s throwing things off balance. What’s keeping us on edge is something different.”

Nayeon’s legs were folded beneath her. She looked comfortable, but Jin could see how stiff she was. “Do you know the real reason?” Nayeon asked.

Jihyo opened her mouth to reply, but she looked confused. Jin guessed her reason, and guessed why she couldn’t say it.

_Thought manipulation. He’s tricking everybody into being afraid of him._ Jin thought of Tzuyu. 

“Jihyo,” Nayeon’s voice broke. She unfolded her legs, and scooted close to her friend. “We need your help.”

“What is this about?” She looked suspiciously at Jin. 

“Jihyo, I’m gonna tell you something, but you can’t freak out.” Nayeon grabbed her hands. “Look at me, Jihyo. I’ve gotten beat up a lot for you girls, right?”

Jihyo stared at her. Slowly, she nodded.

“You know I love you girls, right?” Nayeon went on, studying Jihyo’s eyes. Jihyo nodded again.

“Then when I say this, you have to know I’m saying it because I want us to be safe and happy.” Nayeon squeezed Jihyo’s hands.

_Shit._ Jin put his face in his hands. _I’m gonna be in a body bag and burned in the middle of the woods soon._

“Jihyo, I want all of us to get out of this place.” 

Jin never knew what true silence was like. It was silent this morning while walking through the woods, but not a single noise was being made at that moment in time. 

“ _Get out of this place?_ ” Jihyo repeated. “Leave the house?”

“Leave the house.” Nayeon nodded, and scooted closer to Jihyo. “Leave the house and live a normal life. Seokjin, he said he won’t mind taking care of us. Jihyo, think about it. You don’t like killing people anymore than I do. We don’t have to kill people, Jihyo, not if we get out of here! I don’t have to get beat up, we don’t have to get killed if we don’t kill. We can be happy. We can be _safe._ ”

“Stop it.” Jihyo pulled her hands away from Nayeon. “Stop...”

“Jihyo, listen!” Nayeon insisted. She reached for Jihyo’s hands, but Jihyo had her fingers dug into her temples. “Jihyo, I know it sounds crazy, but we have to- you have to at least think about it.”

“Nayeon,” Jin reached to grab her arm. Jihyo looked dangerously ill; her fingers were dug almost harmfully into her temples. 

“Seokjin, stop.” Nayeon pulled her arm away from him.

“Nayeon!” Jin said again. “Stop it!”

Nayeon sat back. Jihyo’s shoulders were heaving, her chest rising and falling erratically. Her face was turning colors at an alarming rate; blood rushed and turned her cheeks red, and quickly drained and left her face white. 

“Jihyo?” Nayeon called gently. “Jihyo should we go away?”

Jihyo groaned. Her fingers went from her temple to her hair, and she balled her hair into fists. Her left temple was bleeding; she’d dug her nails in so deep, she’d left a cut. Sweat was beading on her forehead, and rolling down her face at an alarming pace. 

“I had,” She groaned, eyes rolling back in pain. She shut them, trembling. “I had two sisters.”

Jin and Nayeon exchanged glances. 

“I had two... Seoyeon, Jiyoung.” Jihyo’s fists were trembling. Jin was afraid she’d rip out her hair. “Mom and dad... mom and dad...”

“Jihyo,” Nayeon reached to touch her leg. Jihyo had no response. She kept shivering. Blood ran from her temple to her chin.

“I’m okay.” Jihyo’s voice shook. “It’s okay.”

Jin left Nayeon and Jihyo to talk on their own. He paced anxiously around the hall, and when he couldn’t handle going back in forth in front of Jihyo’s door, he left to wander down the same halls he’d wandered and seen Jihyo’s drawings. 

He decided to take the right hall today. He wasn’t really thinking about it, wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings. He was just waiting for Nayeon to comfort Jihyo. 

As he wandered down the right hall, he noticed the walls were relatively empty. The hall eventually broke into the room of doors; except, there were no doors. At the end of the hall, Chaeyoung sat on a stool in front of an easel, palette in hand as she moved her painting brush. On the canvas, a boy who looked like Chaeyoung was sketched out.

“Chaeyoung?”

She jumped upon being called. Luckily, her paint did not splatter. She seemed to relax at the sight of Jin, “Oh. It’s you.”

“You paint?” Jin blinked at her. 

She smiled. “I do. I painted all the portraits in the next hall over. You’ve seen them, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, they’re really incredible. They look exactly like the girls.” Jin complimented, and was happy to see Chaeyoung looking proud. “Nayeon looked a little angry in her portrait.”

“She was mad the day I painted her.” Chaeyoung recalled. “She had a bruise on her cheek when I painted her. She didn’t want me to.”

“Why did you paint her then?” Jin asked.

Chaeyoung looked back at her canvas. “She looked the prettiest that day.”

Jin didn’t want to ask about the bruise. He felt he’d cry if he heard the reason why she looked pretty to Chaeyoung. 

“Who are you painting?” Jin asked instead.

Chaeyoung was quiet. “Somebody I remember.”

Jin glanced at the canvas. “He looks like you.”

“I know,” Chaeyoung tilted her head. “That’s the weird part.” 

“He’s better looking than you.” Jin teased. Chaeyoung glared at him over her shoulder. 

“Should I paint you?” She asked.

“What?” Jin stuttered. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. “Or should I paint you and Nayeon?”

“Me and Nayeon.” He replied immediately. Once he realized the speed of his answer, he blushed.

“Come to my room later with Nayeon.” Chaeyoung nodded. “I’ll paint the both of you.”

Jin went back to Jihyo’s door. Just as he was returning, Nayeon was stepping out. 

“How’d it go?” He asked. 

“She’s okay.” Nayeon sighed, shutting the door carefully. “Just give her some time. I talked to her and she asked for some time to think about leaving.”

“Are you okay?” Jin pushed her hair behind her ears.

“I’m okay.” Nayeon smiled sweetly at him. He wondered if he was allowed to kiss her. 

Later into the evening, Jeongyeon announced she’d be making dinner tonight. Jin and Nayeon went to Chaeyoung’s room, where they found her contemplating a blank canvas with paint dirtied hands. 

“Seokjin. Nayeon!” She smiled at them. “Did you come to get painted?”

“Seokjin told me we should!” Nayeon said. She’d dressed up for the painting- she had a lacy shirt on and a short, black pencil skirt that fit her very well, and her hair was loose and untouched upon Jin’s request. 

“To match with you!” Nayeon had told him when he asked why she was dressing up. 

“And the make up?” Jin demanded.

“So I can look pretty next to you.” Nayeon told him.

“Then let me put on lip stick.” Jin clicked his tongue. “If you look pretty for me, then what should I do?”

“Look handsome for me.” Nayeon said, and kissed his cheek. He still wasn’t sure if she’d left a kiss mark.

“Sit down on the bed.” Chaeyoung asked.

“On the bed?” Jin echoed, and Chaeyoung nodded. 

“Aren’t you two a couple?” She frowned, and Jin’s ears turned red. 

“Why does everyone know?” He muttered, and Nayeon hit his arm. They climbed on Chaeyoung’s bed, and sat next to each other.

“Sit closer!” Chaeyoung demanded. She’d already set up her easel and stool in front of the bed.

Jin and Nayeon awkwardly got closer. Chaeyoung stared at them angrily. 

“Nayeon, lean into Jin. Both of you put your legs out- look like Greek gods!” Chaeyoung ordered. Jin and Nayeon shifted at her command. “Good. Nayeon, put your shoulder in front of Jin’s, so it really looks like you’re leaning on him. There we go! I’ll sketch you two out and you guys can go.”

“You don’t need lighting reference?” Jin asked.

“She’s like a painting genius.” Nayeon whispered to him. “She has photographic memory. Colors and everything.” 

“What?” Jin gasped. “Then why do we have to be here for her to sketch us?”

“I don’t know.” Nayeon said. 

“I can hear you whispering.” Chaeyoung muttered.

The sketch took twenty minutes. She asked them to wait for her to blend colors, and dispensed them.

“Didn’t that go too fast?” Jin asked Nayeon as they left the room. 

“No.” Nayeon said. “Sometimes she takes ten minutes. She’s like Picasso. Chaecasso.”

“Chaecasso!” Jin snorted. “I think I agree.”

“Let’s go cuddle.” Nayeon steered them towards their room. 

“We cuddled for two hours!” Jin protested.

“Let’s do it for two hours more!” Nayeon said, putting her arms around his waist.

In her room, Jin hopped on her bed. Nayeon locked the door, and moved to the front of the bed. She started chucking off her clothes.

“Nayeon!” He cried. “Nayeon, put your shirt back on!”

“Shh!” She scolded, climbing out of her skirt.

“Nayeon, now is not the right time to have sex.” Jin stuttered, his heart beating fast. “We have a lot of time to do it! Nayeon, _please_ put your clothes back on, I know I told you I’m a gentleman, but I can only be a gentleman for so long-,”

He ran out of words when his eyes flickered down her body. She walked past the bed, clearly not listening to Jin, toying with the strap of her bra. 

“You should see me with less clothes!” Nayeon said to him as she went into her closet. “Didn’t you say seeing me naked would make you feel like I’m the only girl you’ve ever seen naked?”

Jin put his face in Nayeon’s pillows, flushed red. He kicked his feet, then glanced back up at Nayeon. Now, she had no bra on. 

“Nayeon.” Jin croaked. “Nayeon, should we just do it? Should I just forget about being a gentleman?”

Nayeon said nothing, but Jin saw her smile. He tried to turn away, but felt his eyes were glued to Nayeon as he watched her pick her clothes. He groaned at the sight of her legs. 

“Nayeon!” He kicked his feet again. He forced his face to be buried back into the pillow. After a moment of Jin’s tantrum, the bed dipped; he froze. Was Nayeon naked?

He snuck a peek, and found that she had a night gown on. 

“Now I can’t get up.” Jin complained.

“Why not?” Nayeon giggled, and threw her arms over him.

“What do you mean why not?” Jin barked. “Stop touching me.”

“I’m sorry!” She whined. “Why can’t I touch you? What’s wrong? Are you mad?”

Jin blushed. Did she even know about it? “You broke my heart.” He muttered instead. If he moved from his spot, he could be revealed. “Just give me five seconds to recover.”

“Okay.” She rolled away from him. Jin squeezed his eyes shut, held his breath and counted to five, and he was better. He’d been through the same thing many times on camera, so it was a handy trick of his whenever his friend liked to randomly show up. 

“Are you recovered?” Nayeon asked.

Jin rolled onto his back. He opened his arms for Nayeon, feeling a bit dirty as he did.

She rolled into his arms anyway, and all feelings unrelated to happiness melted away. He hugged her tightly. 

“My Nayeon.” He sighed contentedly. “When do you think Chaeyoung will be done with the painting?”

“Probably tomorrow.” Nayeon said, snuggling into him. “It’ll look really good. I won’t even have my bruises!”

Jin kissed her blackened nose gingerly. “I’m gonna fuck up your boss.” He swore. “I didn’t mean to curse around you! Pretend you didn’t hear that!”

Nayeon laughed. “I forgive you!”

“It’s been hard for you, right?” Jin pulled her close. He pet the back of her head affectionately. “Protecting everybody. Being here for your friends even though you remember your past.”

Nayeon was quiet, but Jin knew she was awake.

“It’s okay. I know it was.” He kissed the top of her head. 

“Was it ever hard for you?” Nayeon was holding onto Jin’s shirt. “Did you ever feel like giving up?”

“All the time.” He smiled. “It’s hard to be an actor, you know. Every body is handsome and talented. It’s pure luck that you make it. I worked really hard for years, met as many people as I could just for a shot at a role in anything. And when things got _really_ hard, I remembered how hard it was for my friends too. But you know who’s story I think about to this day?”

Nayeon shook her head. 

“Hoseokie.” Jin thought of his friend affectionately. “He went through it all. His dad never supported him, and he needed money to keep him steady in Seoul. His mom was the only person able to financially support him. He was poor, totally poor... Barely ate, never slept, always working hard. He was completely different back then than the Hoseok we know today. He’s a hopeful guy. Always looking ahead, always sure that there’d be a better tomorrow. Back then, he couldn’t even imagine what the next day would bring. Hoseok said that he’d always ask himself; Why did I choose this dream? Why am I even alive? What am I living and breathing for? Hoseok... was a real artist. He had no hopes for his future, dirt poor for years on end and all alone with a passion his parents didn’t support. But he worked hard. He trusted in himself, trusted that fate would get him to where he needed to be. You know what that crazy jerk told us? He said the biggest reason he kept going was because he met all of us. He said we were his drive.

He started off with small dancing gigs, you know? It branched off into back up dancers for idols, for foreign artists, and he went on to teach for a while. He opened up his own dance company, and now he’s the best choreographer in Korea. I think about his story a lot. He went through the hardest times all alone, but it turns out okay in the end. His story is comforting, you know? It’s like... No matter how hard it gets, you turn out okay.”

“Will it turn out okay for us?” Nayeon was looking at Jin with rounded eyes. 

“It’ll turn out more than okay.” He assured, and pecked her on the lips.

The next day, Nayeon and Jin wandered downstairs to find a the Greek council gathered together on the sofa, eight girls silent as Jin and Nayeon walked in. 

“Hey guys.” Jin greeted. 

“Seokjin! Nayeon!” Jihyo looked relieved. “I was just telling them about what you told me yesterday.”

Nayeon and Jin froze. Yesterday? Yesterday Nayeon asked Jihyo to think about escaping. Why did Jihyo look so happy about it?

“You want to leave?” Dahyun’s sharp eyes were fixated on Nayeon and Jin. 

“Leave?” Jin laughed. “Of course I want to leave. I’d trade my legs to leave.”

“Nayeon?” Dahyun was staring pointedly at her friend. 

Nayeon was silent. “You know I’ve wanted to leave for a long time.” Her voice was quiet. “I’ve endured a lot of bruises and breaks. You know that.”

“To the point you want to leave?” Dahyun’s eyes narrowed.

“Are we sure there’s nothing recording us?” Mina worried. “This is a really dangerous topic...”

“Why is it dangerous?” Tzuyu fronted. “There’s nothing wrong with us wanting to go out. If the boss let us go out, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Tzuyu.” Mina scolded, looking cross. “Don’t speak so poorly of the boss.”

“Do you respect him or are you afraid of him?” Tzuyu snapped, her little face reddening.

“Tzuyu, stop.” Chaeyoung reached to pat her shoulder. She backed down, but gave her friends weary looks.

“So,” Jin said awkwardly. The atmosphere had grown undeniably tense. “What do you guys think? About leaving?”

Nobody dared reply. Momo was brave enough to go first, to which Jin would be forever thankful. 

“I want to.” She said softly. “I really want to. I want to be free. I want to go back to Japan, and I want to get married to Heechul someday. I don’t want to be stuck in here all... my life...” She trailed off, ducking her head as though she were ashamed of herself. Nayeon and Dahyun were still staring each other down. 

“I like the idea.” Tzuyu said. “I said it. No need to look at me weird. I think it’d be good. We all miss our families, and we all want to get out there and live life. I think it’s a great idea.”

“What’s a great idea?” Jeongyeon prickled. “Three people want to leave so suddenly we should all agree?”

“Don’t fight.” Jihyo interfered. “Nothing is for certain. I just want your opinions on it.”

“How can you be so calm about it?” Jeongyeon sighed. “It’s a huge decision! It’s insane that you’re even talking about it at all! You’re betraying the boss by even thinking about this!”

“It’s insane that you’ve never thought about it!” Tzuyu accused. “Is it so crazy that I want us to be safe? Is it insane that I don’t want Nayeon to get beat when somebody slips up? Is it so insane that I care about you girls enough to want to get you out of captivity?!”

“We are not being held captive.” Mina gave Tzuyu a deadly look, as if to tell the youngest to watch her mouth. “You know we are not being held captive.”

“So what? You think we came here because we said yes?” Tzuyu fumed. She was about to stand up, but Chaeyoung grabbed her arm. 

“We’re not supposed to remember that.” Mina frowned.

“But I remember.” Tzuyu said. 

“Guys, quit it!” Chaeyoung ordered. “Fighting’s getting us no where! Is there any one else who thinks we should leave? Anyone that’s maybe half and half on it?”

“I don’t think it’s _bad_ ,” Dahyun mumbled. “It’s not bad that we leave. It’s just bad we betray the boss...”

“The boss matters to you right now?” Tzuyu gave Dahyun a withering look.

“I’m in.” 

Heads turned to Chaeyoung. She stared back at her friends. “I’m sick of staying here.” Chaeyoung shrugged. “Plus, I think there’s people out there waiting for me.”

“Who could possibly be waiting?” Mina muttered. “We don’t have anybody. We have each other, and we have the boss.”

“Jihyo, you can’t be okay with this!” Jeongyeon cried. “You want to betray the boss’s trust like this? Jihyo?”

“My job isn’t to serve the boss.” Jihyo said sharply. “It’s to watch over you guys, and make sure we’re bonded like sisters. I want you to at least think this over.”

“Well how do we escape then?” Jeongyeon exploded. “Do you even have a plan? Where did this even come from? Was it that bastard there?!” She pointed to Jin. “Did that asshole influence you?! Nayeon, you can’t actually want to leave!”

“I just told Dahyun that I want to leave.” Nayeon spat. “I’m sure you heard it.”

“Nayeon!” Jeongyeon looked horrified. “You’d really betray the boss?!”

“The boss betrayed _me_.” Nayeon hissed. “He’s took me from my family. He took me from the world. He beat you guys like it was nothing, Jeongyeon, _he’s_ the bad guy. He’s one of the bastards we’re forced to kill.”

“We’re not forced to kill anyone!” Jeongyeon sprang to her feet. “We don’t have family! We have no family! We don’t remember anything past the time we came here!”

“Jeongyeon!” Nayeon shrilled.

“Kim Seokjin is _manipulating_ you! Don’t you see? Don’t you remember what he did to Jihyo? She was on the floor trembling and crying, Nayeon! He _destroyed_ her! That’s why she’s saying all this stuff!” Jeongyeon turned to give a rage filled look to Jin. Again, she pointed accusingly. “It’s all _you!_ ”

“None of it is him!” Nayeon stamped her foot. “I’ve always wanted to leave! I just saw Seokjin as an opportunity to leave- he didn’t influence anything!”

Jin had not felt much other than fear through out the entire conversation, but hearing Nayeon’s words, his expression fell. Was that all he was to Nayeon? _An opportunity?_

“Nayeon.” He called quietly, but it seemed Nayeon didn’t hear him as she argued with Jeongyeon. 

“Enough!” Jihyo stood up abruptly. “Enough with this. It’s obvious you guys can’t have a simple conversation, so let’s end this here.”

“Kim Seokjin.” Sana stood up, staring at Jin. “He’s the cause of our problems.”

“Stop.” Jihyo demanded.

“You were throwing away Momo’s letters the other day, saying they caused all our problems.” Sana’s gaze grew threatening. Jin didn’t notice, but Nayeon had stepped in front of Jin. “But that’s not the cause. He’s the cause.” 

“I was just- Sana, please.” Jihyo tried to calm herself down. “Momo, I’m sorry about what I did. I should have apologized much earlier. My mental state... Lately I’ve been remembering things. I’ve just been adapting to it poorly. Your letters, everything was just me looking for something to blame. I’m sorry.”

Momo gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay.” She assured her. “I know what it’s like.”

“Then you know I wasn’t looking for a cause.” Jihyo went on. She met Sana’s eyes. “I don’t think we’re on edge, and I don’t think we have to lie- Momo is our sister. We should protect her before anything, so I don’t think we’re betraying the boss.” 

She spoke randomly, but Jin knew that was how people truly spoke. He noticed Nayeon in front of him, finally, and pulled on the back of her dress to bring her closer to him.

“Jeongyeon is right.” Sana did not take her eyes off of Jin. “He’s manipulating Nayeon. He’s manipulating all of us.”

“He’s not manipulating anybody!” Nayeon barked. “Stop it with that! He spilled every fact about himself to a bunch of kidnappers the moment he met us! He’s so vulnerable- he sleeps so well! He slept well from the night he came here even though he knew we could kill him when we wanted! Do you really think a mastermind manipulator would tell us every fact about him and trust us completely to the point that he hasn’t even _tried_ to get out of here?! He literally has faith that we will put him back on the side of the road! Stop saying he’s this and that, because it just proves you know nothing about him!”

“And what? You know so much?” Sana’s look was withering. Jin never knew how horrifying she could be; her 4D personality came with a deadly twist, it seemed. “Do you like him, Nayeon?”

“Sana, drop it!” Chaeyoung snapped. 

“None of you are loyal to the boss!” Sana bursted. “None of you care about him! I can’t believe Nayeon would have more faith in a stranger, a _man_ , than she would in our boss! I can’t believe Jihyo said we should put ourselves before our work!”

“She didn’t say that!” Tzuyu shouted. 

“I agree with Sana.” Mina’s statement was chilling. She, who had treated Jin so kindly, was agreeing to him being a manipulative bastard. “We can’t put more faith in a stranger than our boss. Our boss knows us the best, and loves us the most.”

“What fantasies has he put in your head?” Nayeon said exasperatedly. “How badly did he brainwash you? You think he loves you, Mina? He’s holding you captive!”

“He is not holding us captive!” Mina looked offended. “He brought us here for a purpose!”

“To _kill people_!” Nayeon hissed. “Don’t you feel it at night, Mina? Don’t you feel the weight of how many bodies are on your hands?”

“They’re bad people!” Mina’s rising voice was trembling.

“They’re people!” Nayeon cried. “Do you think we have the right to kill them? Do you really think so?”

“Nayeon, stop it!” Jihyo shouted, reaching to grab her arm.

“No! I won’t stop!” Nayeon yanked her arm away from Jihyo. “I take every single blow for you girls! I keep quiet, I stay in the perimeter of the house, I do everything to keep you guys happy! I remember everything from my past, but not once have I ever tried to run away! Don’t you care about me? Don’t you think that I shouldn’t have a black nose right now? It’s freaking black and blue! If you don’t care about me, don’t you care about _yourselves?!_ ”

Jin held onto the back of her dress, feeling anxious. Her temper had snapped, and Jin could only guess what was to happen next. It was too bad his shoulders were to wide to hide behind her.

“You spend every day rotting in here with the stench of death! Don’t you want to get out? Don’t you want to be _free_?! I know you punks remember your pasts- I know you do! You refuse to remember because of our asshole of a boss! I know how it is, and there’s just no damn way I’m wrong about it! Tzuyu remembers! Chaeyoung remembers! Momo remembers! If everyone remembers, why can’t you? Why can’t the rest of you?!” Nayeon yelled at them, hands waving and face contorting to every angry expression on earth. 

“Because I know the boss does everything for us!” Sana said.

“Shut up about the boss!” Nayeon’s roar got the girls to go quiet. “He means nothing to me! He’s a bastard, a jerk, an asshole, I just want to get out of here and never think of him again!”

“Nayeon!” Jeongyeon gasped, scandalized. 

“Well why hasn’t Kim Seokjin said anything?” Mina cried, eyes brimming with tears as she turned to Jin. “If you’re the one making Nayeon to think this way, you should at least say something!”

Jin’s mouth went dry. Say something? What could he say to a bunch of girls that thought he was an evil mastermind? He felt small, smaller than he ever felt before; with no control over his actions, he ducked his head into Nayeon’s shoulder. 

“He’s controlling her right now!” Jeongyeon pointed fingers again.

“He’s scared!” Nayeon shouted. She reached her hand back to pet his head. “He’s scared of you! Hasn’t that gotten through your skull yet?” 

“If he was controlling Nayeon, don’t you think he’d be saying all sorts of things right now?” Tzuyu sounded exhausted. “Nayeon sounds like Nayeon. She sounds like she’s thought this for a long time, not like Seokjin’s been telling her every single word to say this whole argument.”

“It’s not true!” Mina sobbed. “Nayeon wouldn’t betray the boss for no reason.”

“She’s not betraying the boss for no reason.” Chaeyoung gave Mina an angry look. “She told you a thousand reasons already.”

“Dahyun. Dahyun, what do you think?” Jeongyeon, Mina and Sana turned desperately to Dahyun, who had been silent throughout the entire ordeal. 

“I remember,” Dahyun began slowly. “When I broke the camera by the lake. Nayeon took all the blame, and the boss hurt her really bad. She can’t even go past the garden because of me. When Momo started sneaking out to see Heechul, Nayeon took the blame every time. She said she was the one walking out of the woods, not Momo. He bashed both of her knees in, and she can barely run anymore. When Jeongyeon had pizza from the city snuck in, who took the blame? Nayeon. Nayeon took the blame for every one of us every single time the boss caught us.”

Dahyun turned to Nayeon, her face affectionate. “I want to help you get out. I’ll do everything in my power to help you get out.” She took two steps towards Nayeon. “But I don’t want to leave.”

“What?” Nayeon choked. Jin lifted his head from her shoulder so she could speak freely to the girls. “You don’t want to leave?”

Dahyun shook her head. “There’s nothing for me in Seoul.” She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t remember my family at all. Tzuyu’s tried to crack me a hundred times, but there’s nothing I can remember.”

“But we can find them!” Nayeon insisted. She moved to hold Dahyun’s hands. “We can find them and you can be safe, and happy and free! Even if we can’t, Seokjin can take care of you!”

“How long can Seokjin take care of all of us, Nayeon?” Dahyun’s eyes were sad. “Do you really think he can house nine people? Teach us about everything we missed? Make us functioning, working citizens?”

“We can learn that on our own time!” Nayeon pushed. “There’s nothing we can’t learn! We’ll all be together, Dahyun, we’ll be safe and happy together!”

“Some of us belong here,” Dahyun’s voice was soft. “Killing bad guys, being disconnected from the word... Some of us won’t go back to who we were before our boss took us.”

“Dahyun.” Nayeon sobbed. Dahyun squeezed her hands.

“Don’t cry, Nayeon.” She soothed, wiping her tears. “You can remember us forever. We won’t brain wash you, we won’t do anything. But you deserve to be happy. Even if it’s by leaving us and being happy with someone else... somewhere else.”

Dahyun hugged her elder friend. Nayeon cried into her shoulder, holding the shorter girl close. Jin watched with a pained heart; he wanted to help, but he knew this was a moment for Dahyun and Nayeon only. 

Dahyun looked over her shoulder, and at Mina, Jeongyeon and Sana. 

“We don’t have to get out of here.” She told the girls. “Nobody can force us to go, or think differently, or remember. But Nayeon is our sister. We can at least help to break her out.”

Jeongyeon rose to her feet. She went to Nayeon, who lifted her head from Dahyun’s shoulder. 

“You really want to get out of here?” Jeongyeon wiped the tears away from Nayeon’s cheeks. 

Nayeon nodded into her hands. “I really do.”

Jeongyeon’s lip trembled. Then, she burst out into tears. “I’m gonna miss you so much!” She wailed, and the girls hugged each other tightly.

Finally, Jihyo stood up. “Who wants to go with Nayeon and Seokjin?”

“I do.” Momo stood up. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu rose to their feet after Momo, hopeful looks on their faces.

“There’s some people I remember.” Chaeyoung’s eyes shone. “People I think I’m meant to be with.”

“I have to get on the first flight to Taiwan.” Tzuyu smiled. “My family’s looking for me. My dog is too.”

The girls laughed. Jin, feeling okay to talk now, turned to Jihyo. “Will you want to leave?” His question came gently. 

Jihyo gave him a smile. “I shouldn’t leave. There’s people counting on me to stay.”

“A leader can always step down from her position.” Jin told her, and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure somebody else can take it up.”

Jihyo and Jin looked back to the girls, who were looking expectantly at Jihyo. 

“I can do it.” Jeongyeon stepped up. “I was the second choice for leader back then anyways. I can do it... if you feel like your life’s waiting for you somewhere else.”

“No.” Jihyo looked conflicted. “I shouldn’t. I should stay. Right?”

Her friends met her confusion with patient looks. 

“You can go if that’s what you want.” Everyone was shocked to see Mina was the owner of the words. “I still can’t agree with this. I still think it’s wrong to betray the boss like this, but I’ve done it before. I covered for Momo, so I’ll cover for you girls too.” 

“Are you sure?” Jihyo’s voice broke. “You guys will be okay without me?”

Jeongyeon shrugged. “We’ve seen enough of you bossing us around.” She grinned. “I’ll know what to do.”

Jihyo hugged Jeongyeon. Then, everyone was crying and hugging. 

It looked like things would turn out okay. Jin smiled, stepping back from the girls.

“I can’t believe this.” Sana’s mumbling turned into screams. “I can’t believe any of you would be okay with this!”

The girls stopped their crying and rambling and hugging to watch Sana run off. Suddenly, tension fell in the room.

“Will she tell the boss?” Mina looked terrified. 

“No,” Jihyo frowned. “There’s no way she’d do that.”


	7. Chapter Seven

Jin and Nayeon were left to wander outside.

“I usually can’t go out too far.” Nayeon told Jin. He held her hand as she walked down the steps, her dress longer than usual today. 

“Tzuyu told me.” Jin said. She hopped down the last porch step. 

“I can’t believe Jihyo sent you two to the lake. Are there really no cameras on the way there?” Nayeon sighed. They were walking arm in arm to the garden, as per Jihyo’s request; she wanted every one to be active to melt away their worries. “We’ll talk about everything else once every one’s minds have settled.” She had explained. 

“I’m pretty sure there weren’t. Tzuyu said Dahyun broke the one at the lake.” Jin said.

“She has a sixth sense for cameras.” Nayeon smiled. “She spots every single one of them. Well, there must not be any cameras if Dahyun said there isn’t.”

“Dahyun’s so funny.” Jin remarked with a fond smile. “I’m gonna miss her.”

“I’m gonna miss her too.” Nayeon leaned her head on Jin’s arm. “Mina, Jeongyeon, Sana... I’m gonna miss everyone.” 

“I wish we didn’t have to forget them.” Jin looked up at the sky, but there was no way to see the daylight. The leaves were blocking his view. 

“We don’t.” Nayeon smiled sadly. “I think that’s the worst part. If Dahyun brainwashed us, we could live happily.”

“Oh yeah, huh?” He remembered what Dahyun had told Nayeon earlier. He kissed Nayeon on her head. “I think Dahyun wants to feel connected to you guys somehow. It’ll hurt everyone to be apart from each other, but if you remember... it’ll feel like you’re still connected, in a way. You haven’t forgotten each other. You guys remain special to each other, no matter how far apart. Plus, you’ve been here for like five years. If she brainwashed you, you’d probably be back to your maturity of twenty.” 

“Tzuyu would be back to fifteen.” Nayeon laughed. “So would Chaeyoung.”

“They came here young, didn’t they?” Jin said. 

“They did.” Nayeon nodded. “Really young. Fifteen, I think.”

“They’ll really be learning how to live life again.” Jin said. “It’s like picking up where they left off.”

“I’m sure they learned something from living here.” Nayeon hopped over a tree root. “I think they’ll be okay with social situations.”

“They hopefully remember manners.” Jin said. “You guys can speak formally, right? Tzuyu and Chaeyoung speak formally to me.”

“I’m pretty sure only Mina, Sana and Momo can’t. They picked up their Korean from us, and we all speak informally. They know oppa and unnie though, so they should be fine.” Nayeon joked, to which Jin laughed. 

“I’ll take you on all sorts of dates, Nayeon.” Jin kissed her cheek. “Have you been to the Han River?”

“Never on a date.” Nayeon beamed at him.

“It’s romantic. Should we go to Japan? See the cherry blossoms?” Jin went on. “Of course we’re gonna go to Gwaecheon and see my family. Nayeon, let’s go to Itaewon!” 

Nayeon giggled. “We’ll go everywhere.” She assured happily.

“Everywhere?” Jin smiled. Nayeon kissed him sweetly. “Everywhere.”

“Should we fall in love, Seokjin?” Nayeon sighed contentedly, wrapping her arms around his. 

“We should fall in love.” Seokjin confirmed. “We should fall in love and get married. How many babies should we have?”

“As many as you want.” Nayeon told him as they neared the garden.

“Really?” Jin smiled brightly. “Let’s have five girls. I wanna have a bunch of mini bunnies running around all day. We have to hope really hard that they’ll all have your smile too.”

“ _Five girls?_ ” Nayeon repeated, eyes wide. “I... How about two girls?”

“Three girls!” He said excitedly. 

“You don’t want any mini Jins?” Nayeon teased. Jin thought for a moment about the idea. 

“No. Just one Seokjin is fine. I wouldn’t be upset if we had a mini Jin, though.” Jin said pensively. He started smiling again. “But if we have boys, we should just keep trying for girls. Mini Nayeons... the thought makes me really happy.”

“What if we have a boy that looks like me?” Nayeon said.

“I think my heart would give out.” Jin told her honestly. “He’d be the prettiest boy in the world. He’d take my position for world wide handsome.”

“World wide handsome?” Nayeon looked at him. 

“That’s me. It’s a heavy burden to carry.” Jin sighed deeply.

Nayeon laughed at him until her face turned red. 

Around midday, Jihyo called every one to one of the rooms down the halls where their portraits hung. 

“Did you finish ours, Chaeyoung?” Jin asked Chaeyoung, reminded of their portrait after seeing the paintings on the walls.

Chaeyoung nodded. “I’ll show it to you when Jihyo lets us go.”

The room Jihyo took them to was one lit only by a few lanterns and a candle, a desk in the middle of the room as bookshelves surrounded it. The room, which Jin thought would be poorly illuminated at night, was well lit once Jihyo pulled back the curtains to one of the windows and revealed the light of day. 

“I thought of a plan to escape.” Jihyo said. She picked out a roll of paper from one of the shelves, and stretched it out onto the desk. The girls and Jin hovered around the desk, peeking at the paper. 

“Why is it empty?” Momo laughed. 

“I don’t know how to draw a blueprint.” Jihyo admitted. “But I do have phases of my plan! Dahyun’s scouted every camera in the area. The only clear route is from the back door to the lake. There’s no cameras set up, beside the crow that Dahyun broke. So, the plan starts. Phase one is for Sana, Jeongyeon and Mina to stay behind, while we head to the lake. Dahyun will start breaking cameras while we hang back, which will compel him to come to the cabin. We don’t know how long it takes him to arrive, so when he does, Mina will send a sign.”

“What’s the sign?” Mina interrupted.

“Once he arrives, Jeongyeon will throw herself on him by sobbing and crying. You’ll go out and start the burner; we’ll see the smoke and start running towards the street. That’s phase two.” Jihyo said. “Jeongyeon, when the boss arrives, tell him that Nayeon dragged us out and threatened to kill us if we don’t run away with her. Mina, you can tell the boss you saw Nayeon take us towards the dogs.”

“The street’s super far from here.” Chaeyoung put in. “It takes Dahyun and I an hour to get to it.”

“We just have to keep running.” Jihyo sighed. 

“The dogs are kept a good twenty minutes away.” Mina murmured. “Then he’ll run back to the house, then the lake? You guys will practically be gone. Its a good plan.”

“Why is Dahyun breaking cameras?” Jin asked.

“To get the boss to go to the house first.” Jihyo explained. “We’ll have more time if he does. If he spots all of us on camera, he’ll go straight to the forest.”

Jin nodded. He forgot the girls knew their boss like the back of their hands. He wondered for a moment if he could ever make Nayeon forget about him.

“Is there a phase three?” Dahyun grinned.

“Well, no, not really. We just have to run the entire way to the street.” Jihyo said sheepishly.

“She threw the phases in to be fancy.” Nayeon jeered. 

“Nayeon is old and she sucks.” Jihyo said loudly. 

“Jihyo,” Tzuyu cut into their brimming argument. “What about Sana?”

Jihyo’s irritated face fell. “I asked her if she wanted to come to this meeting, but she yelled about betraying the boss again. I followed her upstairs, but she started cursing me out. She’s locked in her room.” She looked sad. “I wish she’d understand.”

“Give her some time.” Mina suggested. “She’ll probably come around.”

Jeongyeon nodded, her head leaned onto Nayeon’s shoulder. “There’s no way she’d do anything bad to us.” Jeongyeon assured. “She loves us too much. She loves Nayeon too much!”

Jeongyeon and Nayeon grinned at each other, making faces and touching finger tips. 

“That was a short plan.” Jin frowned.

“It’s what we’ve got for now.” Jihyo shrugged. “We’ll take a dog with us to alert us if the boss or his back up is around. Jeongyeon, should we go get a dog together?”

“Are the cameras down?” Jeongyeon said in surprise. 

“Yeah.” Jihyo smiled. “Dahyun tampered with them without getting in front of the recording view. They’re down for an hour or so.”

“Nice.” Jeongyeon smiled. 

Jin had a balcony at home. It was big, tiled with black marble that felt good beneath his feet, and had beautiful glass doors that connected the balcony to his living room. There was a sofa, chairs, a coffee table, and the view of Seoul’s busy streets was beautiful from up there. 

But Jin’s balcony could not compare to Mina’s balcony. It was huge, and Jin was shocked to see a small dining table set to the corner. Pillowed chairs were against the wall, and beautifully crafted wooden railings prevented them from falling. Mina’s doors, wooden with glass, had silky curtains that blew in the wind the moment she opened her doors. The view compared to the view of Seoul; the crowding trees lead to peeks of the lake, and a serene sound of a faraway rushing river. Wildlife was scarce, but birds often flew down to perch on the railings of Mina’s balcony. 

It was fit for a princess. Had Jin not been crazy for Nayeon, he would have fallen for Mina, with her black hair blowing and white dress floating behind her against the gentle breeze. 

They leaned against the railing, staring at the cracks of sky and blinking affectionately at the birds cleaning their feathers next to Mina. 

“Your boss is really weird, huh?” Jin said. “He gets rid of bad guys, but keeps you girls captive and makes you guys kill them. He’s like a bad-good-bad guy.”

“You know... I’m terrified to kill people.” Mina confessed, breaking the silence. “I hate to torture them. When we tie men up, we usually don’t talk to them. We just take them to the dogs, and walk away.”

“I never thought about if it’s wrong or right to kill bad guys.” Jin tilted his head. “I’m still not sure about it. These guys... are really bad guys, right?”

“They commit the worst kinds of sins.” Mina said. “The kinds you can’t recover from. In my mind, there is no way to try and live a better life after you rape a person. Something inside of you... is rotten. If you do something like that, there is something in your mind that can never be salvaged.” 

Jin listened attentively to her. He’d never heard such dark topics being spoken in such a gentle manner. 

“How can you harass a child and go on to become a better person?” Mina asked to Jin. “You just can’t. There’s no way to do something so cruel to a baby and grow into a better person. It’s an evil ideal... but people like that deserve to die.”

“You think harassment and... rape, you think it’s worse than murder?” Jin asked her.

Mina was silent for a moment. “Whats worse?” She finally asked. “Leaving somebody traumatized for life or killing them?”

“Killing them means they never wake up again.” Jin told her. “They have no more memories, no more thoughts... they’re out of existence. Forever.” 

“I like to think that we take care of the people that haunt other people’s lives.” Mina said. “Now that we’ve killed these criminals, the people afraid of them don’t have to fear them anymore. They are out of existence.”

Jin blinked at her in shock. She was telling him things he’d never even fathomed he’d hear.

“And I’m not sure if harassment is worse than murder.” Mina mused. “Those kinds of things are not in my hands to judge.”

“But you still kill anyways?” Jin asked.

“But I still kill anyways.” Mina sighed. “I can only pray this is the right thing to do, because this is all I know how to do.”

“Kill people?” Jin felt his heart break. In that moment, he completely understood why Nayeon wanted so desperately to leave with all her friends- they had to face awful thoughts like this every day. He began to understand Nayeon completely; his thoughts shifted achingly from his new friends to Nayeon, and how much she must have suffered with these same thoughts. 

“Kill people.” Mina nodded. She turned to Jin with a smile. “Are the cops happy in Seoul? We’re knocking down the criminal rates, aren’t we?”

Jin smiled back at her. “Yeah.” He said softly. He nudged Mina, happy to be spending whatever time he had with her. “They’re really happy.” 

Jin was room hopping today; after Mina’s room, he went to Chaeyoung’s room with Nayeon to see their finished portrait. 

“It’s like a picture!” Jin gasped upon seeing the painted canvas. Jin and Nayeon were depicted together, exactly how they had posed for Chaeyoung earlier. The only change was that the black bruises on Nayeon’s nose had disappeared, leaking a milky colored face. The painting was commendable in size, and the way Chaeyoung crafted colors and casted shadows was with such technique, that Jin wondered if she’d become the next Picasso once they reached Seoul. 

“She should paint a selca next.” Nayeon joked. 

“We’ll be taking selcas soon enough.” Chaeyoung smiles. “Won’t have to paint like this anymore.”

“You could sell those paintings for some good money.” Jin nudged Chaeyoung. 

“I hear furry porn artists make a lot of money.” Chaeyoung said flatly. “Oh, Seokjin. Here’s your phone.”

“It’s really good.” Nayeon mentioned to Jin as they left Chaeyoung to start packing. Nayeon told Chaeyoung not to pack anything, since they’d be tired from carrying it while they ran, but Chaeyoung paid no attention. 

“You think Jin is gonna buy me panties and bras?” Chaeyoung had said. 

Now, outside of Chaeyoung’s door, Jin tapped angrily on his phone. It wouldn’t turn on- it was dead. He was glad to see something familiar to the civilized world though, and put his phone away in his pocket with affection. 

“Is Chaeyoung gonna keep it here?” Jin asked.

“I think so. It’s too big to take with us.” Nayeon said sadly. “But she can paint us another one in Seoul, right?”

“Yeah.” Jin said. He grabbed her hand. “In Seoul. But... Nayeon. About what you were saying earlier, when you- when all the girls were fighting, did you mean what you said?”

Nayeon looked at Jin. “Mean what?”

“That you saw me as an opportunity?” Jin studied her gaze hopefully, praying he might be wrong, and that she truly didn’t mean it. 

Nayeon chuckled. “I only said that to defend you, stupid.” She got on her tip toes and kissed him on the tip of his nose. “Of course you’re not an opportunity to me. You’re some one I really like.”

Jin’s expression broke. He smiled wide, and gathered her into a hug. “I knew it!” He sighed happily. “You didn’t mean it at all.”

“Of course I didn’t!” She slapped his back. “Don’t you trust me at all?!”

“Of course I do!” Jin said hurriedly. “I do, I just... It just sounded real.”

Nayeon pulled away from him. She kissed him again, but it was on his lips this time. “You know what I think?” Nayeon smiled against his lips. “I think we should go to my room.”

Jin’s ears turned red. “Go to your room?”

“Yeah,” Nayeon kissed him tenderly. “And read some books.”

Tonight’s topic was when they’d be leaving. Jihyo wanted to leave as soon as possible- she said they’d set the plan in motion after tomorrow. Jeongyeon, Mina and Dahyun fought ferociously to extend the time period, anxious looks on their faces that clearly showed they weren’t ready to let go of their friends just yet. They were gathered in Jeongyeon’s room- all but Sana. 

Jin and Nayeon sat together in the corner of one of Jeongyeon’s sofas. Nayeon was leaned into his chest, while Jin had his arms around her. He let her play with his hands while his mind wandered to thoughts of home. As the girls fought, Jin thought of his friends. He thought of his family.

 _What do I tell them about Nayeon?_ Jin’s eyebrows furrowed. _That I met her in the woods? I could tell her she was being held captive. No, it’s better to return her to her family first. If anyone finds out about the cult, Nayeon could be found out for murder. But she didn’t murder anyone. She was brainwashed into first degree murder. She was forced to do it, so they wouldn’t send her to jail, right?_

 _Better to keep quiet about it. Nayeon can tell her family she was kidnapped with the girls and that I found them tied up and left to starve._ Jin formulated the plan in his head. _The girls can act traumatized and say their abuser never gave them any names. All the remember is being in a really dark and cold place, and that their kidnapper fed them well and forced them to work for him in skimpy clothes and he got off to it or something. They’ll believe it, right?_

“Nayeon.” He whispered into her ear.

“Mm?” She hummed her response.

“Did your boss force you guys to kill people?” He asked.

“Duh.” She snorted. “First he tricked us into thinking we were doing the right thing. Then he said he’d kill the dogs then kill us if we let people go free, or refuse to kill them.”

“What should we tell your parents?” Jin murmured. “They’ll be curious on where you’ve been.”

“We just say we don’t remember.” Nayeon shrugged. “Got pulled away in a dark alley, then we woke up on the side of the road with our heads hurting. Can’t remember a single thing.”

“Will your parents report to the police?” Jin mumbled.

“Probably.” Nayeon replied. “There’s not a lot of evidence me and the girls were ever here though. All they have are portraits and memories.”

“Didn’t your boss erase all your civil files too?” Jin asked.

“Can’t know for sure.” Nayeon shrugged. “That’s where the cops will have to step in though, huh?”

“Yeah. They’ll try to figure things out.” Jin mumbled. For a second, he couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for a bunch of murderers. “You really have to pretend you can’t remember anything, okay? You and all the girls. Just cry a lot... they’ll believe it. They’ll let you off the hook that way, and you can get all your citizen files and whatever you need.”

“We will.” Nayeon promised. She leaned up, and kissed his cheek. “I promise.”

“You guys are disgusting.” Jeongyeon grumbled beside them.

Later into the night, the thought finally settled into Jin’s mind as he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Nayeon to wipe off her make up. He could not believe he was sneaking a bunch of murderers out of captivity and proceeding to lie to the cops about everything he came to know of the girls. 

_Good_ , Jin thought. _I hate cops. I’ll lie to them all._

“Seokjin,” She called. “Where will I sleep when we go to your apartment?”

“In my bed.” He replied smoothly. She giggled, and Jin realized he had unintentionally flirted with her. 

“Well, for real. You’ll sleep in my bed.” Jin said. “Unless you don’t want to. Then I can sleep on the sofa.”

“Not with one of the other girls?” Nayeon asked teasingly.

“Never!” Jin gasped as though she asked if he’d kill his grandma. 

“I’m just joking.” Nayeon said softly. She put away her make up wipes, and stood up from her vanity. 

Jin patted his leg, motioning for her to sit. She joined him on his lap, and affectionately put her arms around his neck. He smiled as he hugged her back, one arm around her waist and the other around her legs; she was like a koala. 

“You look like a bunny, you act like a koala.” Jin sighed into her neck. “How many adorable animals can you be?”

“I just don’t know!” Nayeon said. “You know... you kind of look like a hamster. Or like, a quokka.”

“What?” Jin gaped, and Nayeon laughed. “That’s how I am to you?”

“It means you’re cute!” Nayeon assured. “You have a really cute smile...”

“Am I not sexy to you?” Jin was officially offended.

“You are!” Nayeon laughed. “You’re can be cute too. Cute, pretty and sexy. Triple threat.”

“I’m internationally handsome.” Jin shrugged. 

“ _Worldwide_ handsome.” Nayeon corrected. Jin squeezed her in his hold, and she giggled as he did.

“Ow, ow, stop it!” She protested, and Jin loosened his hold on her. They rolled over on the bed, cuddling as they stared at the ceiling.

“Are any of your friends married?” Nayeon asked, tracing invisible lines on Jin’s chest with her finger tip.

“No.” Jin rubbed her shoulder. “I bet five dollars with Hoseok that Jimin and Namjoon would get married though. Oh! Taehyung has this girl he really likes, but he hasn’t asked her out.” 

“None of your friends are dating?” Nayeon looked shocked.

“I could say the same about yours.” Jin kissed her head. “But I want to introduce Tzuyu to Jungkook. She’s really his type.”

“He likes Taiwanese girls?” Nayeon asked.

“He’ll love them after Tzuyu.” Jin joked. 

“Do you think your friends will like me?” Nayeon murmured. “You said your family would. But your friends sound like your family too.” 

“They are.” Jin agreed. “And I hate to make you upset, but I think they’d love you.”

“Really?” Nayeon lit up. “You really think so?”

“I am one hundred percent sure they’ll love you.” Jin smiled. “I practically raised Jungkook. I used to drive him to middle school! Anybody I introduce him to, he’ll love.”

“What about the rest? Will Taehyung like me?” Nayeon went on.

“If you’re funny enough.” Jin grinned.

Nayeon was quiet. Then, she spoke up anxiously. “Once Tzuyu laughed at what I said. She never laughs really hard, but she was dying when she heard it! Do you think Taehyung would laugh too?”

“I’m just kidding!” Jin laughed. He used both arms to wrap her in a side hug. “They’ll like you no matter what. They know I’ve been lonely since Jungkook moved out.”

“Is Jungkook your brother?” Nayeon asked. 

“Something like that.” Jin chuckled. “Our parents were friends. Jungkook wanted to come to Seoul to pursue his dreams, and I had just moved into my trashy apartment. I had just passed an audition for a mini series drama, so my parents let me go. Bought me a little junky place with it too. Our moms got in touch, and Jungkook lived with me since he was fifteen.”

“Well where does he live now?” Nayeon patted Jin’s back sympathetically.

“He’s got his own place now. He lives right next to Namjoon’s apartment.” Jin told her.

“Why doesn’t he have one next to yours?” Nayeon’s tone flipped angrily. “You took care of him since he was in middle school!” 

“My apartment is too expensive. He couldn’t afford to buy one next to mine.” Jin explained. 

“Oh.” Nayeon blushed. 

As usual, a furious knocking at the door interrupted Nayeon. The couple shared a groan as they rolled away from each other.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of harassment   
> not explicitly expanded on

Jeongyeon was behind the door today. Jin was surprised to see her short outfit; her shorts were hoisted up to cover only her butt, and accented her waist, while her cropped shirt was almost see through. He had never seen any of the girls wear anything other than night gowns and their black and white elegantly-styled dress code. 

“Are they here?” Nayeon asked. She looked ill.

“You know they come around this time.” Jeongyeon muttered. “We should have gotten you and Seokjin out of here way earlier..”

“Is the boss here?” Nayeon started to look anxious.

“Yes.” Jeongyeon bit her lip. 

“Wait. Who’s they? And why aren’t we freaking out like the last time your boss came?” Jin cut in with a bundle of questions.

“They... they’re the boss of our boss.” Jeongyeon scratched her chin. “And we aren’t freaking out because he’s entertaining his bosses. He has no time to come up and snoop around.”

“I don’t want to go downstairs.” Nayeon‘s face was pale. Jin, worried, cupped her injured face in his hands.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Jin mumbled, pushing hair away from her face. He glanced at Jeongyeon’s clothes. “Do they... look at you weird?”

“It’s awful.” Nayeon hid her face in Jin’s hands. She said nothing else.

“We’re supposed to sit with them and do what they want.” Jeongyeon mumbled. “They always feel like touching us a little inappropriately every time they come. “

“ _Inappropriately?_ ” Jin‘s eye twitched. “Tell them Nayeon is sick. There’s no way I can let her go down.”

“It’s okay.” Nayeon, though shivering, shook her head. She held onto Jin’s hands. “It’s okay. I have to go, so we don’t- so we’re not suspected.”

“Nayeon-,”

“I need to go.” Nayeon dropped his hands. “I need to go so we can be safe. It’s okay... it’s okay...”

“Nayeon, you don’t have to go.” Jin said firmly. “Jeongyeon, what about Momo? Doesn’t she get upset? She has Heechul too.”

“We all get uncomfortable.” Jeongyeon said. “There’s just no way around it.”

“Then we have to leave.” Jin said immediately. “We have to get out now. That way everyone can avoid the problem.”

“Seokjin, think about what you’re saying.” Jeongyeon tried to reason. Nayeon had vanished from Jin’s side.

“Why should I think about what I’m saying?” Jin, out of no where, was on defense. Perhaps the emotions he’d been bottling since he was kidnapped were spilling over; perhaps the thought of someone else touching Nayeon was making him think irrationally. Whatever it was, Jeongyeon was graciously handling it with patience. “I always think about what I’m saying. I hold my breath, I try not to anger any of you guys, shit I befriended all my kidnappers, I fell in love with one of my kidnappers!”

“Seokjin, you’re saying nonsense.” Jeongyeon rested soothing hands on his wrists, but her face was panicked. “Just- just stay quiet, okay?”

“I have Stockholm syndrome!” Jin hissed, grabbing Jeongyeon’s hands. “I’m crazy! I’m a crazy bastard!”

“Stop talking!” Jeongyeon pleaded. “Look, if you can get through tonight without causing trouble, you, Jihyo, Momo, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, _Nayeon_ , every one will be able to leave safely tomorrow! Just get through tonight. Okay?”

Jin chewed on his lip. His hands slipped from Jeongyeon’s. “I am spewing bullshit, huh?”

“How does your mouth get dirty so fast?” Jeongyeon scoffed. “Maybe it’s a bad idea to leave Nayeon with you.”

“What should I do then?” Jin grew sulky.

“Wait in Mina’s room. Don’t lock the door. Shut it and wait in there. If somebody comes and doesn’t say _unnie_ , then jump off the balcony.” Jeongyeon explained.

“What?” Jin choked. “Jump off the balcony?”

“It doesn’t hurt too bad.” Jeongyeon assured. “Keep the balcony doors ready. If you land correctly, you’ll just break a few bones.”

“And if I don’t land correctly?”

“Let’s pray we learn resurrection spells tonight.” Jeongyeon patted Jin’s arm.

“We won’t have to.”

Jin and Jeongyeon turned to face a skimpy clothed Nayeon. Her skirt was short as sin, and Jin had no idea how, but her sleeveless top was leather. 

“You can’t go looking like that.” Jin breathed, face red. 

“You won’t have to jump from any balconies.” Nayeon kissed Seokjin’s cheek. “They won’t come up.”

Jin stripped off his shirt. “Wear this.”

“Kim Seokjin!” Nayeon gasped. Jeongyeon covered her eyes.

“Wear his!” He pulled Nayeon by the waist towards him. He checked to see if there was a zipper on her top- when he could not find one, he pulled his shirt over her head. 

“Button ups are sexy.” Jin muttered, buttoning the very first button on the collar of his shirt. It was no use; it was falling off of her shoulders.

“Seokjin,” Her shocked face broke into laughter. She got on her top toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

“Don’t let them touch you. Really, don’t let them.” Jin mumbled, holding her close.

“I wont.” The trembling in her hands stopped as she made the promise. “I really wont let them.” 

Jin was not supposed to look. He was not supposed to leave Mina’s bed room at all, but the thought of Nayeon barely clothed with random guys drove him just a bit crazy. 

He snuck downstairs. He peered past the hallway’s frame, trying to get a look into the living room. There was music, which Jin though Jin wasn’t sure where it was coming from, he was sure the girls were happy to hear it. He couldn’t see into the living room, but every so often, Jihyo would pass by with a tray of drinks. The clothes on her were even shorter; it seemed she had to show off the pretty features of her body.

And every so often, women in black, unfamiliar to Jin, would pass by with one of the nine psychos on her hip. He even caught a glimpse of Momo, looking flirty as she passed with the women.

Were these women in black the bosses of the boss? 

He’d seen enough, he decided. There would be no way to protect Nayeon tonight, especially when Jin had no idea who the enemy was. He’d trust her to keep her promise and wait upstairs, just as Nayeon and Jeongyeon had told him. 

He was making his way up the marble staircase, music muffled as he padded up the stairs. But, halfway up, something stopped him. By some miracle, he heard one of the doors creak. 

From his spot at the midway point of the stair case, he saw a man. Scrawny in figure, tall in stature, a face he couldn’t quite make out (but he was sure he was ugly). 

Nayeon’s boss. 

He was peering into Mina’s room. 

The blood coursing in Jin’s veins seemed to cease. He felt dead in that moment; his ears rang uncomfortably as his pupils trembled. 

_He knew I was supposed to be in there._

Jin watched the boss step inside the room. The door was shut. The blood rushed into Jin’s body again.

_I have to hide._

Fear knotted Jin’s stomach. It knotted it, made him grow pale, make his hands shiver and stomach gurgle upsettingly. He was supposed to kill this dude for hurting Nayeon, but he couldn’t muster the courage to even be in a three mile radius of the man. When the time called for it, he’d kill him, Jin had decided. 

He panicked as he ran through the winding halls. Where was he going? Where would he hide?

_Where would I hide that wouldn’t seem suspicious?_

The prisoner’s room. Jin was back to where it all began. He dug through the boxes and items on the shelf to find handcuffs, stuffed a balled up rag into his mouth as far as it could go, sat on the chair and roped his legs together, and handcuffed himself the best he could trying to do it behind his back. When he succeeded, he put his arms around the chair, and begged his heart beat to slow. 

He had to act like he was passed out to make the it work. The door to the room was shut for safe measures as Jin settled in the chair, taking deep breathes to relax. The feat proved to be impossible- there was no way to relax in conditions like these.

Time passed. Music thumped, and it seemed like nobody was coming to find Jin. 

“So annoying!” Jin tried to say around his rag. It came out as muffled nonsense. “Doesn’t anybody care about me at all? Should at least... try to find me...”

There was a gun shot, and pitched screams sounded. Another gun shot sounded; though the screams didn’t accompany it, the blasting pop music remained. 

Jin was upright in his seat, eyes wide. All notions of trying to seem passed out were forgotten. Now, his heart raced just as it had before; was Nayeon alright? 

He heard yelling. He heard more yelling. He heard shouting, then there was a clamor of chatter erupting. 

The prisoner’s door was slammed open. Jin had been exposed. 

Jin feared few things in life. He was terrified of tiny bugs, horrified of ghosts, scared that his nine new friends could get hurt escaping tomorrow, and terrified that Nayeon could get hurt- and his worst fear nowadays was to be without Nayeon. 

So when the boss appeared at the doorframe, ghostly face barely illuminated by the hallway’s light, all nine girls surrounding him, Nayeon behind him with a teary face, and a little spider crawling on the wall, it felt like he was about to confront all of his fears.

“This...” The boss let out a sigh. “Is the prisoner you got me?”

“Yes.” Nayeon said, and she looked at Jin in shock. Was she not excepting him to be here?

“This is not,” The boss hiccuped. Was he drunk? “Oh Seungjoon.” 

“No, it’s not Oh Seungjoon.” Jihyo stepped in. The leader like look on her face was completely transparent; her eyes were the gateway to it all. She looked like she was about to pee her pants. “We captured him just a few days ago. We were waiting on you to make a final decision on what we should do with him.”

“You were...” The boss just kept hiccuping. He started to laugh. “You know I love you Jihyo! My baby Jihyo... You’ve grown up _very_ beautifully.”

The boss was running a finger along her jawline. Jihyo’s face twitched, but it seemed she could not turn away from him. Or rather, she was not allowed to.

“I remember when you were ten.” He chuckled, and his face was nearing Jihyo’s alarmingly.

“Sir,” Jihyo interrupted. “What about your bosses?”

“What about them?” The boss snarled. “You think I give a shit about them? Those bitches started shooting each other, now they’re fucking each other thinking they’re fucking you girls. Those fucking bitches... Who thinks they can fuck you other than me?”

Jin gnawed furiously at the rag in his mouth. Why did he put this shit in his mouth in the first place?! His leg jumped as the boss spoke, infuriated with the fact he could have touched Nayeon, or one of his pyscho friends. 

“You were cuter as a kid.” The boss groaned. “Not as fat. But the fat went to good places!”

Jin stomped his shoe on the floor. The boss pulled away from Jihyo, and Jin caught a glimpse of his face as he did. He was freaking ugly. 

“What?” The boss was slurring now. “What? You like Jihyo? What’s there to like about this bitch?” 

The boss leaned back, and Tzuyu stumbled forward. “She’s prettier.” The boss chuckled, and his predatory hands were targeting her instead. “She had so much body at fifteen. She still does. So cute...”

Jin had it. He kicked away the rope he had seemingly tied poorly around his ankles, pulled his arms from behind the chair, and jumped over his hands. 

“Little fucker.” The boss slipped away from Tzuyu, moving in front of the girls to face Jin. “You think you can tackle me? Huh? Think you’re Korea’s protector of women?”

Jin threw the rag in his mouth to the floor, and picked up the chair. “This is for Nayeon’s nose.” 

He smashed the chair into the boss’s head. Immediately, the ugly looking man fell to the floor without a hint of putting up a fight. He was knocked out, and knocked out good.

“Kim Seokjin!” Sana wailed. She shoved through her friends. “Are you insane? How could you hurt him?”

“How could you let him touch you?” Jin snarled. “You’re all insane. You should have ran away sooner! You should have- all of you should run away with me! Today! Right now!”

“Sana, it’s okay.” Dahyun reached to take her arm.

“It’s not okay!” Sana raged. “It’s never okay! You all act like it’s fine- like it’s okay to betray the boss like this, like it’s okay to lie to him! He raised us! He gave us a chance to become the good guys-,”

Even though his wrists were cuffed, Jin struck her across the face. 

“You’re a fucking psycho.” Jin muttered to Sana. She was collapsed on the floor from the force of the hit, holding her face. 

“Kim Seokjin!” Nayeon shoved him aside. She crouched down beside Sana. “Are you insane?!”

“Don’t touch me!” Sana sobbed, and she pushed her away. “Don’t ever touch me again! You’re not my friend! You’re not my sister! You’re nothing to me!”

“Sana, you don’t mean that!” Chaeyoung cut in. “Stop with this, Sana! Nayeon is leaving tomorrow- Jihyo, Tzuyu, Momo, all of us are leaving tomorrow and this is what you have to say? Not even a goodbye!”

Tears rolled down Sana’s cheeks. She didn’t respond, but gave Chaeyoung and Nayeon hateful glares instead. “You don’t get it!” Sana wept, balled beside the wall. “None of you get it.”

Jihyo went to Jin, and released his wrists. 

“Thanks.” Jin murmured. Jihyo whacked him on the head. 

“Don’t hit Sana.” Jihyo growled, and returned to tending to the scene happening on the floor. Jin held his head in pain- was hitting Sana so bad? Everybody was thinking the same thing, right? Wasn’t everybody mad at Sana?”

“Sana.” Tzuyu stepped in between Chaeyoung and Nayeon. “Sana.”

Sana did not respond. She kept crying, curled in on herself. Tzuyu crouched down, and took her hands.

“Sana, this isn’t you.” Tzuyu’s firm voice lowered to a whisper. “You wouldn’t hurt anybody like this, Sana. You wouldn’t want one of your sisters to be unhappy. I _know_ you Sana. He... that man Jin knocked out? He changed you. He changed you into somebody I can’t recognize at all. Somebody who’s willing to hurt good people.”

“You’re not a good person if you hurt the boss!” Sana accused. 

“Sana...” The room fell silent as Momo spoke. Her tone, for once, was completely serious. In the dark room, Jin could see the distraught look on her face. “Did you tell?”

The silence was deadly. 

“Did you tell on me?” Momo’s voice trembled as she approached Sana. “Did you tell the boss that I was with Heechul that night?”

“Of course I did!” Sana shrieked. “I had to! I had to do it! You were betraying him too! All of you were by covering for Momo!”

“Forget it.” Momo mumbled.

“No. No! Momo! I did it for a reason!” Sana scrambled to grab onto Momo. “I did it for a reason! Everything I do- everything I do has a reason! Everything _has a purpose_!”

“I thought we were sisters.” Momo’s voice broke. “I thought we could confide in each other.”

“We could. We can. We can, we still can!” Sana screamed. “Just quit trying to leave me! Stop trying to leave me alone! You guys are the only family I have! You can’t just leave me! You talk about how we’re bonded, you say sister this and sister that, you- you say we can confide in each other, but how can we if you guys keep trying to run away from me? How can I trust you when you’re trying to _leave me?!_ ”

“This was never about the boss?” Nayeon sounded like she was crying too. Jin contemplated going to her, but decided he shouldn’t. It would be wrong to interrupt her moment. 

“Never.” Sana sobbed. “I hate that bastard. It was always about you. About _us_.”

Momo’s looming aura did not fade. Though she was crying too, she did not back down. She grabbed the ends of her blouse, and pulled it over her head. She went to switch on the light, and then, walked to Jin. 

“Seokjin.” She smiled through her tears. She was completely topless beside her bra, but the situation was so intense, that Jin was not embarrassed to meet her eyes. She turned around, and showed her bare back to Jin. 

Scars, massive scars, welted into white, swollen skin marked her back in the form of letters.

“Property,” Jin whispered, eyes bulging in horror at the sight of the word carved into her back. “Property.”

Momo turned to him. “I’m property.” She laughed. “I’m a thing. I’m a thing somebody owns. I don’t have any worth, Kim Seokjin. I am property.”

“You know why I got these scars?” Momo went on, her expression growing strange. She pointed to Sana. “Because Sana told on me.”

“Momo, let’s not do this right now.” Mina tried to interrupt.

“I won’t do anything.” Momo assured. Mina, still looking afraid, reached to hold Momo’s hand. “I won’t do anything, but I can’t forgive Sana. I’ll never forgive her.”

“Talk to me, Momo!” Sana pleaded. “You’re not even looking at me! Just look at me!”

“Never.” Momo’s eyes bored into the wall. “Never will I forgive her.”

“Let’s go.” Jeongyeon interrupted. The girls, all distressed or in tears, looked to her in confusion. Jeongyeon looked back as though they were stupid. “Let’s get you guys to Seoul!”

“What?” Jin said. “All of a sudden?”

“We have no other opportunity that’s as good as this one.” Jeongyeon said firmly. “We need to go now. Right now.” 

“Wait.” Sana rose to her feet. Her legs were shaking. “W-Wait!”

“Look at you being a leader already!” Jihyo stood on her tip toes to pet Jeongyeon’s head affectionately. 

“Sana,” Nayeon turned to Sana. She held her hands. “Sana, I love you so much. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“No. Yes. I-,” Sana’s eyes were brimming with tears. “I have to leave some of you either way.”

“If you ever do decide to leave,” Nayeon’s teary smile was bright. “The girls will help you. That’s what sisters are for.”

Nayeon pulled her into a hug. Sana helplessly hugged her back. 

Then, each of every girl who was leaving hugged her tightly. Tzuyu kissed her cheek, Chaeyoung hugged her for exactly one minute, Jihyo cried while she said her goodbye, and Momo, of course, completely ignored her. 

“Wait.” Is all Sana would keep repeating. Dahyun took her hand, and lead her out the door. 

“Does anybody have the key to lock the door?” Jin asked.

“There’s a lock right there.” Tzuyu pointed to the lock on the knob.

“I think I’m stupid.” Jin muttered, and locked the door behind him. 

The girls quietly got ready after helping Sana lay down in her bed. Chaeyoung grabbed her back pack from her room, and let the rest of the girls stuff bras and underwear inside. They took Mina’s necklaces and earrings and stuffed it in Chaeyoung’s backpack as a reminder of their pretty friend, and after Jeongyeon put a water bottle and a small container of eggs and rice, the back pack was oddly shaped and almost impossible to zip up. A good thing to mention was the fact the girls had carefully tucked pocket knives into the bands of their skirts and inside of their bras. 

“Hurry up!” Tzuyu urged. 

“I can’t! Jihyo, your bras are massive, why didn’t you freaking pack your own backpack?” Chaeyoung hissed her complaint.

“Sorry!” Jihyo apologized.

Finally, the girls gave a final sweet kiss to Sana as good bye. They left through the front door to avoid the boss’s bosses, knocked out or having sex in the living room. 

“Are you coming with us?” Jin asked Jeongyeon and the girls as they quietly shut the door. 

Jeongyeon shook her head. “We came to say goodbye.” 

It finally hit Jin; he was leaving. He was leaving, and he’d remember these girls forever. A sadness crept into him. He’d truly never see them again. He suddenly regret hitting Sana, and suddenly regret not saying goodbye to her. Despite it all, he had laughed with her, trusted her, been her friend. He glanced at Momo; it looked like she didn’t feel the same way.

Quietly, everybody poured in to hug each other. Jin caught Mina alone as everybody was clinging onto Jeongyeon. 

“Thanks for everything.” He said, and pulled her into a hug. 

“You’re the best prisoner we’ve ever had.” Mina laughed softly. They pulled away, and shared affectionate looks. “You’ve got my earrings on!” She said.

“Nayeon gave them to me.” Jin smiled. “I’ll remember both of you with it.”

“Will you take care of her?” Mina’s expression was anxious. “Will you take care of all my sisters? They’re a handful, and Momo eats like she’s about to die, and Nayeon and Jihyo never stop talking-.... but they’re my sisters. They’re really, really good girls.” 

“I know that.” Jin assured. “I’ll take care of them. Plus, they’ll be with their families again soon. They’ll learn how to live well.” 

“They will, right?” Mina sighed. “I’ll miss you a lot, Kim Seokjin.” 

“I’m gonna miss you more.” Jin hugged her again. He’d always miss her kind soul. “Listen, I’ll tell Kai I met a pretty girl in the woods. If you ever get out of here... I’ll introduce you two.”

Mina laughed. “I’d like that a lot.” 

“So is this goodbye?” Jeongyeon smiled at Jin.

Jin shrugged. “It’s as much of a goodbye as we’ll get.” 

“I don’t know.” Jeongyeon shrugged. “I think we can have a pretty good goodbye.”

They laughed, and she hugged Jin.

“Hey. Take good care of Nayeon.” She said sharply as they pulled away. “If it weren’t for you, I would’ve made her fall in love with me already.”

“You liked Nayeon?!” Jin gasped.

“We’ve been in love way longer than you’ve been with her.” Jeongyeon stuck her nose up. “Don’t get crazy. Look, her favorite foods are .... Cook it all for her, okay? Her favorite color is purple, and even though she acts really confident and narcissistic, she’s super insecure about her looks deep down, so make sure to tell her she’s beautiful everyday.” 

“I will.” Jin swore. “I’ll take really good care of her. She won’t have to lift a finger.”

“Unless she wants to lift a finger.” Jeongyeon arched an eyebrow. “If she does, you’ll let her. Or else I’ll kill you.”

“Of course I’ll let her.” Jin rolled his eyes. “She can do whatever she wants.”

“Don’t ever cheat on her. I can sense when Nayeon is sad, did you know? I’ll crawl out of this forest and kill you myself.” Jeongyeon threatened. 

“Why would I ever cheat on Nayeon?” Jin scoffed, looking over to Nayeon, who was laughing with Mina. “She’s the prettiest girl alive. It’s impossible to find any one better than her.” 

“That’s what they all say. Then you get married, get sick of her, and cheat on her with a super model. All male actors do that.” Jeongyeon spat. 

“I won’t.” Jin’s resolve was determined. “I want to have three kids with her. All girls, all of them look like her. I wanna see every pretty thing in the world with her, I wanna let her live her life, I want her to see her family, to be happy with me, in Seoul... I just want her to be happy.”

Jeongyeon studied his face. Then, she sighed. “I was just testing you.” She grinned. “Needed to see if you really love her.”

Jin glanced back at her. Affection gripped his heart. “I think I really might love her. When I do, it’s gonna be beautiful, Jeongyeon.”

“Name one of your daughters after me, okay?” Jeongyeon pointed a finger at her. 

Jin laughed. “I will. Hey, since you asked me for such a big favor, can I ask for one too? Can you say bye to Sana for me.... for me and Momo?”

“Momo said bye?” Jeongyeon looked shocked. 

“Yeah.” Jin told the lie with a sad smile. “She’s just too embarrassed to ask you, so she told me to ask instead.”

Jeongyeon looked to Momo fondly. “I should say bye to her, Seokjin.”

“Can you tell Sana I’m really glad she cheered me up?” Jin stopped her before she could go. 

Jeongyeon chuckled. “Of course I can. I’ll see you later, okay Seokjin?”

“I’ll see you later.” Jin replied, his shoulders relaxing. 

The rest of the tearful goodbyes were hurried. They all asked Jeongyeon and Mina to say goodbye to Sana, and finally, Jihyo ordered the group to start their travels. 

“Lead the girls well.” Jihyo said as she had held Jeongyeon’s hands. “Take care of them.”

“I will.” They hugged, and it marked the start of their trip. They head into the trees, Dahyun’s flashlight shining into the black darkness. 

Hand in hand, Nayeon and Jin waved to the girls, until they had to focus on ducking beneath gangly branches. 

“Finally going.” Chaeyoung sighed. 

“Are you not sad?” Jin asked, heart still aching. 

“Duh I’m sad.” Chaeyoung snorted, but her tears had dried. Looking around, Jin would notice everyone’s tears had dried too. Momo was grinning brightly.

“It’ll be hard knowing we can’t see each other.” Chaeyoung went on. “But I think everybody’s different. We all have different places... different places we’re meant to be in, you know? Maybe the girls were born to wipe bad guys from Korea. I was born to live a good life as a citizen in Seoul. That’s what I’ve started to believe in lately.” 

“It’s been a crazy week, huh?” Jihyo chuckled, and the girls laughed. 

“We didn’t even think about leaving before Seokjin.” Tzuyu said. “He said like five things and suddenly we’re all convinced to leave.”

“I think we all probably wanted to leave for a long time.” Nayeon said softly, hand tight in Jin’s. “Seokjin was just like... a spark in a field of dry grass.”

“That’s poetic.” Dahyun snorted. The girls were laughing again, and it made Jin realize just how strong these girls were. They were willingly leaving girls behind that they’d spent five years with, leaving a life they’d spent so much of their youth to take on a completely new one. And they were doing it all while they laughed.

“Will you guys really be okay?” Jihyo asked Dahyun. “We can still turn back if you’re not sure.”

Dahyun nudged Jihyo. “No way.” She said softly. “This is what you guys want. You won’t be happy stuck inside that mansion for the rest of your life?”

“And you will?” Jihyo put her head on Dahyun’s shoulder. It was awkward, since they were walking and Jihyo was a bit taller, but it was a sweet gesture nonetheless. 

“I will.” Dahyun pat her cheek. “I like it. The thought that I’m Korea’s protector or something. I came to really like it. Even if I can’t remember much of my family... at least I can protect them from harm by wiping out bad guys. I’m okay to stay.”

“If you ever want to leave,” Jin piped up. “Just send a signal. I’ll come back, and we’ll do this all over again.” 

“There’ll be no Nayeon to fall in love with.” Tzuyu said pointedly. “If there was no Nayeon, you wouldn’t have been so ready to help us all escape.”

“That’s true.” Jin agreed. “But we can do this all over again while I still remember you. You guys are all my friends, remember? I’ll want to get you guys out no matter what.”

“Sounds like he’s gonna cheat on Nayeon.” Dahyun sighed.

“Shut up.” Nayeon clicked her tongue. “Start thinking about what signal you’re gonna send Seokjin.”

“Hmm...” Dahyun was pensive. In the darkness, she put her thumb to her head and stuck her pinkie out. “This is my signal. I’ll send it far and wide. Seokjin will receive it, right Seokjin?”

“Nayeon, I hate to say this, but Dahyun and I are mentally connected.” Jin said. 

“Should I kill Dahyun?” Nayeon sighed. “You said you’ll go save her and now you’re saying you guys are mentally connected.”

“It does sound a little suspicious.” Chaeyoung sucked on her teeth. “I’m three seconds away from throwing this backpack into the trees.” 

“Is it that heavy?” Jihyo frowned. 

“It’s bigger than her.” Jin pointed out. As the girls carried on with soft chatter, Jin leaned down to talk to Nayeon. 

“Are you tired?” Jin whispered in her ear.

“No.” Nayeon shook her head. 

“Are you cold?” Jin asked. 

“I’m already wearing your shirt.” Nayeon said. “You can’t rip off your sweater and go around naked. Seokjin, did you bring your phone?”

“I did.” Jin nodded, and stood straight. 

“Good.” Nayeon smiled. 

“Did you get everything you wanted?” He asked. She nodded too, “There’s not a lot. Just my bras and underwear. I can wear your clothes once we get there.”

“I’ll buy you girls some clothes.” Jin said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are we going to the lake?” Momo asked Dahyun. 

“No.” Dahyun replied. She stopped, inspected the floor, then carefully walked over a hole. “Be careful. Just found the biggest hole on earth.”

“This is not the biggest hole on earth.” Tzuyu informed everyone, and the party proceeded to carefully stepped over the hole. 

“You’re so smart, Tzuyu.” Chaeyoung gave her a thumbs up. It was not received, as Dahyun’s flashlight was only able to illuminate what was in front of it. 

“Momo, are you going straight to Heechul?” Nayeon called after Jin picked her up and swung her over the hole. 

“No. We were supposed to meet by some gas station next week.” Momo explained. “I’ll see him then. I’ll meet him, then I was hoping we’d go to Japan together, to meet my family.”

“Momo, you’ve left the forest?” Jin asked.

“Dahyun always sneaks me out.” Momo nodded. “We just go at night in black hoodies. The boss always thinks it’s trespassers and comes by the next day to inspect it.” 

“Your boss is either a genius or a total idiot.” Jin observed. 

“Anything for the plot line, right?” Tzuyu scratched her neck. 

“Plot line?” Nayeon echoed. 

“Forget it.” Tzuyu said, and it was forgotten.

“We’ll have to find our families once we get to Seoul, huh?” Chaeyoung mentioned. “That’ll be hard.”

“The Seoul police probably have files on you guys.” Jin said. “You can show up and be like; ‘Hey, I’m Son Chaeyoung, I went missing when I was fifteen.” 

“We can just figure it out when we get to Seoul.” Chaeyoung shrugged, and Jin mumbled an agreement. 

Dahyun stopped abruptly. Every one stopped behind her, and stared at her blankly. 

“Why’d we stop?” Jihyo blinked.

“The plan was for Mina to set some stuff on fire if the boss arrived, right?” Dahyun muttered. “Check the sky.” 

Through the cracks in the foliage, Jin could clearly see thick swirls of black smoke billowing into the starry night sky. 

“Maybe it’s a different fire?” Jin suggested, but he could smell the fire. There was no denying it was Mina’s signal. 

“Sana must have woke the boss up.” Momo mumbled, and she whipped out two guns from beneath her skirt.

“Where’d you get those?!” Jin spluttered. 

“Sorry.” Momo grinned sheepishly. “The boss gave them to Jihyo in case anybody tried to leave the house. I stole them from her room.”

Jihyo gave her a wry look. 

“Let’s go.” Dahyun muttered. “I’m gonna start running, so keep up.” 

“What?” Chaeyoung frowned. “We’re running? We seriously think it’s the boss?” 

“What else could it be?” Jihyo sighed anxiously. “Let’s get out of here as fast as we can.”


	9. Chapter Nine

The party spun on their heels, and pelted into the woods. The trees were tight, and it was hard to tell if overgrown roots or rocks were in their way, but Dahyun lead them expertly. Whatever she did, the party managed to copy. There were tons of stumbles and loud complaints, but they were successfully running through the woods. 

“Tell me if you need me to carry you!” Jin told Nayeon. 

“I don’t need you to carry me!” Nayeon spat, but they remained hand in hand. “Tell me if you need to be carried then!”

“I will!” Jin swore. As they spoke, he noticed the smell of smoke was pungent by that point. “I’m too big for this kind of stuff! I trip super easy! It looks awkward when I run!”

“Stupid!” Nayeon laughed. 

“Stay quiet!” Jihyo hushed them. 

Immediately after Nayeon and Jin fell quiet, the situation took a turn for the worst. Dahyun had whipped her head around. “They’ve got guns!” She hissed.

“Guns?!” They whipped their heads around to see what Dahyun was seeing, and after a moment of squinting, Jin spotted the eye of a sniper from deep in the bushes. 

“Oh shit.” Jin groaned. 

“What are we gonna do?” Nayeon asked, frozen in her spot. 

“Shoot them back.” Momo cocked her gun. 

“Momo, wait!” Jihyo reached to stop Momo, but she’d already pointed the gun. With a flash of light and a brief explosion from the gun’s barrel, Momo’s face lit up as the bullet went flying. In a matter of seconds, there was a noise- Jin looked to where the sniper was, and the body laid flat on the floor. Momo was a perfect shot. 

“Holy shit!” Dahyun hissed. “Hurry up! Start running!”

“Are we gonna die?” Jin shouted. 

“Hell no!” Nayeon squeezed his hand. “I didn’t go through all of this just to die! Plus, we still have to have five girls!”

“Nayeon, let’s get married the moment we get to Seoul!” Jin said, and gun shots were sounding behind them. In the depths of the night, the girls were becoming more and more clear, the smoke thicker and thicker, and now, dogs were howling. 

“They got the dogs out!” Chaeyoung cried. 

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever done.” Tzuyu muttered. “If we live, Jin has to buy us all mansions!”

“What?! Why me?” Jin shrieked. 

“Because-,” Tzuyu was cut off as a flaming branch fell to the forest floor behind them. “You got us into this!”

“Jeongyeon is going to be the maid of honor at my wedding if you keep being annoying!” Nayeon bursted. 

“What?!” The girls gasped.

“Shut up and _run!_ There’s no wedding if we die tonight!” Dahyun yelled. 

“It’s on fire!” Jihyo cried. “The whole forest’s on fire!”

“We noticed!” Nayeon said impatiently. 

“Come on!” Dahyun swerved to the right. “There’s a clearing around here!”

“There’s somebody behind us!” Tzuyu shouted. 

There was a cock of a gun, so Jin shouted; “Duck!”

A bullet flew straight over Jin’s head, just as he was ducking down. 

“Oh my god!” Nayeon screamed.

“Momo, give me your gun!” Jihyo demanded, and Momo tossed her hand gun to Jihyo. The girls turned, guns cocked, and started shooting while everyone had their heads down. Behind Jin, he heard pained yelps and heavy thuds. 

“Park Jihyo!” Nayeon called. “You look so cool!” 

“I know!” Jihyo laughed. 

“Are there more people behind us?” Jin wailed. 

“Not anymore!” Momo said, and the girls lifted their heads along with Jin.

“Are you okay?” Nayeon asked Jin.

“I’m fine!” He panted. “Are you getting tired?”

“Yeah!” Nayeon coughed. “But just a little more and we’ll be out of here. Kim Seokjin!”

“What?” Jin was coughing now too. 

“Let’s get married by next year!” Nayeon yelled. “I want to date you!”

“We can date while we’re married!” Jin cried.

“I know,” Nayeon said. “But I’ve never dated before! Plus... I want to do things on my own before I do everything with you!”

“Okay!” Jin gave in easily. “But shouldn’t we date for two years? So you can do more things on your own?”

“How many damn things can I do on my own?” Nayeon hit his arm as though he were ridiculous. 

“A lot!” Jin heaved. 

There was a crackling above them; a tree branch was caught on fire. 

“Watch out!” Jin screeched, and knocked Nayeon backwards. They tumbled on the ground as the branch finally broke with an aching groan, falling onto the forest floor. Soon, the leaves and sticks surrounding the massive branch would catch fire too.

“Kim Seokjin!” Dahyun was calling. “Just keep running to the right! Meet us at the clearing!”

“Okay!” Jin was helping Nayeon stand up. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine!” Nayeon panted. 

“I’m gonna throw a gun!” Jin looked up, and saw Jihyo’s face through the flames. “Can you use one?!”

“I can try!” Jin yelled. He opened his hand, and Jihyo threw the gun. By some miracle, he caught it perfectly. 

“Nayeon knows how! We’ll see you at the clearing!” Jihyo yelled, and the group of girls turned to run. 

He handed the gun to Nayeon. 

“Seokjin,” Nayeon accepted the gun, but was looking only at him. “Can you pick me up?”

Nayeon had her legs around Jin’s waist, her arms wrapped around his neck as her chin was settled on his shoulder. Jin was running to the right, and Nayeon was to shoot at anybody following them. 

“Can you all use a gun?!” Jin cried.

“Yes!” Nayeon said. “But I’m an awful shot!”

“Aim at their head, and you’ll shoot at their foot!” Jin advised. Nayeon’s laugh was sweet next to his ear. 

“Jin, watch out!” She warned. “Just run as fast as you can!”

Nayeon lifted her arm, and the gun shots rang clear into the night. Dogs howled and barked, and they seemed to be getting closer and closer. 

“Did you get them?” Jin panted.

“No!” Nayeon whined. “I keep shooting their feet!”

“How do you shoot feet from up there?” Jin laughed despite the tense situation. 

“They’re crazy! They keep running with bullets in their feet!” Nayeon cried, and she cocked the gun and shot it. 

“Who are they?!” Jin asked, turning sharply past a tree. 

“The boss’s henchmen!” Nayeon informed, and she shot again. Jin heard a thud, but wasn’t sure if it was the branches or a body. “Jin, duck!”

Jin ducked his head, taking Nayeon with him. He held his breath as he heard the wind of a bullet fly past their heads. 

“Oh shit.” Jin groaned. After that, the henchmen shot left and right, and Jin had to run at a speed that made his legs feel like they were falling apart. “Oh shit!”

“Just keep going!” Nayeon urged. “I’ll kill them!” 

There was a cry, and a thud. Nayeon kept true to her promise, but bullets were still whistling past Jin’s ears. 

“Nayeon, I see it!” Jin yelled, the crack of light between the trees a blessing to his eyes. “I see the clearing!”

“Go!” Nayeon screeched. “Run faster!”

“Fuck it.” Jin cursed under his breath. He started running like flames were biting at his heels (which they were), and he was sure that by the time they reached the clearing, he’d collapse. As Nayeon shot over his shoulders, he pushed through the final branches, and the trees broke into the clearing.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. The entire clearing was surrounding by fire, flames that licked hungrily at the black sky; they were cornered. 

Jin collapsed to the floor as he made it into the clearing, wheezing as he struggled for breath. Nayeon, who could not afford to help him up, got up immediately and shot at the henchmen. 

Jin, through a hazy vision, finally caught sight of the henchmen. They were regular koreans, dressed in black with massive guns. They were seriously injured- and when he looked at Nayeon, he realized her legs were cut and bruised too. 

Also when he looked at Nayeon, he thought he’d never seen a sexier woman. She looked good handling a gun.

“Kim Seokjin!” The shrill belonged to Dahyun. He shook his head, trying to get rid of his weakening vision, and got to his feet. 

“Kim Seokjin, can you fight?” Dahyun cried from across the clearing.

“Fight who?” Jin shouted. He turned, and was faced with five menacing men, four dogs... and Nayeon’s boss in the middle of them. 

_Oh shit._ Jin regretted hitting a chair on his head. Now, the boss was staring him down. 

“They’ve got guns!” Chaeyoung shouted.

“We’re outnumbered!” He heard Tzuyu’s whimper. 

“Jihyo!” Nayeon appeared at Jin’s side. Her face had a fine spray of blood on it, but she looked gorgeous nonetheless. Even with the awful situation, Jin used his sleeve to wipe away the blood on her cheek. 

Nayeon reached her arm back, and flung her gun across the clearing. Jihyo jumped up and got it. 

The henchmen weren’t shooting. That is, until Jihyo and Momo cocked their guns and shot two of the henchmen down. 

“Wait!” The boss cried. “Don’t shoot!”

“Who woke you up?” Momo snarled. “Who told you we were coming?”

“Sana did,” The boss shouted, laughing as he did. “She didn’t mean to tell me. She was in tears, crying... she tried so hard to keep me from coming, that it took a couple of swings to get her to shut up!”

“You jerk!” Momo yelled. Her gun was pointing at his head. “Crazy bastard! You hit Sana?!”

“Nobody’s loyal to me. None of you skanks really love me.” The boss bared his teeth in an ugly manner. The dogs beside him raised their chops, snarling as they circled their owner. “I should just get it over with and kill all you bitches. But-... I’m being nice.”

“You hurt Nayeon.” Momo’s face was set. “You hurt Tzuyu. You’ve done awful things to Jihyo since she was just a little girl... you’ve done awful things to all of us. Don’t call us skanks, or bitches, or I’ll fucking blow your brains out.”

Jin stared at Momo in horror. He never knew air-headed Momo, always a little distracted, always a little out of it, could be so... scary. He looked to Nayeon, and they exchanged equally shocked looks. 

“I was _saying_!” The boss said through gritted teeth. The dogs barked around him. “That I want to give you girls another chance. If you come back to me now-,”

Momo shot another henchman, and the conversation was over. Suddenly, Nayeon was pelting ahead of him, and Jin could only follow her. 

In all his life, the last thing Jin thought he’d do was fight a dog. But here he was, punching one of the human-eating dogs in the jaw while shitting his pants afraid.

“Rat!” Jin insulted the dog, and pummeled it’s nose one last time. It ran away whimpering with it’s tail between it’s legs, and Jin stood up to wipe the blood from his mouth. 

It seemed there were more henchmen than Jin had previously assumed; a henchman grabbed his throat, a knife threatening his neck.

“You’re all stupid sometimes.” Jin said before he bit the man’s hand. He heard somewhere that humans had enough force to bite their fingers off, but just didn’t have the heart to do it. Now, Jin had sunken his teeth completely into the man’s skin. It was pretty disgusting. The man screamed, and let go of the knife in his agony. Jin tore his teeth away from the man’s skin, and delivered an awful elbow blow to his stomach. 

“Damn!” Jihyo remarked as Jin kicked the man’s fallen body. “You’ve never fought before?” 

“I got training for it to pretend fight in Boys Over Flowers!” Jin shouted. “I never knew it’d be so useful!” 

“You were in Boys Over Flowers?!” Jihyo dropped her fists to marvel at Jin, but was unfortunately socked in the face before Jin could brag. 

As Jin fought off another henchman through biting and kicking, he caught glimpses of his friends. They looked exhausted. Blood dropped from their chins, eyes flickering in and out of focus, hands weakening around their opponents. Jin himself could feel the adrenaline wearing off. He knew this was a fight they’d never be able to win. 

“Run,” He gasped as he was in head lock, clawing at the man’s arms. “Run... away...” 

The arms locking him in fell free. Chaeyoung had punched the guy in the face.

“Chaeyoung!” Jin gasped, struggling to breathe again. 

Chaeyoung smiled at him, her eye bruised. “What’s up?”

“Chaeyoung, we’ve got to get out of here.” Jin coughed, his eyes stinging. The fire was getting stronger. “We’ve got to... we’ve got to go.”

Chaeyoung was dragged away before she could say anything in response. Jin was too weak to try and help- he watched helplessly as he bent over, struggling to breathe. 

Through the crowds of legs and past Dahyun beating a man’s face in, he saw... Nayeon. He smiled affectionately. She looked beautiful, even if she was covered in blood. 

He looked closer. There was a hand around her neck... and it belonged to her boss. 

She was choking. 

“You fucking skank!” The boss was screaming. She was lifted into the air by his hand, her face turning blue as she kicked her legs desperately. 

“You little bitch! You slept with that guy you bitches captured, and you let him convince you to leave! Isn’t that right?!” The boss was spitting in her colored face. “It’s all your fault! Everything is _your fault!_ ”

Jin rammed his elbow into the boss’s head. The boss fell to the side, and Jin slid to catch Nayeon before she hit the ground. 

In his arms, her red eyes looked to him desperately. Jin held her close. 

“Nayeon.” He whispered, cupping her face. “Nayeon, you’re totally blue.” 

“I...” Nayeon wheezed. The blue colors were fading back to her pale skin, and Jin’s heart was at ease again. “Kim Seokjin...”

“Nayeon, wait here.” He asked, taking her hand in his. “I think there’s somebody I have to fight.”

“No.” Nayeon choked, reaching to touch his face. “No, just... let’s go. Let’s leave.”

Jin pressed a fond kiss to her forehead. He, with an odd new found strength, tore off a piece of his sweater and tucked it beneath Nayeon’s head. He let her lay down comfortably there, at the edge of the battle scene, and got to his feet. 

Nayeon’s boss was getting up, coughing out blood. Jin moved furiously towards him.

“Here to kill me?” The boss grinned, teeth bloody. Jin finally got a clear view of his face.

He was still the ugliest man to roam the earth. 

“Yeah.” Jin wiped the blood from his nose with one of his knuckles. “I’m gonna fucking destroy you.” 

It happened like that. Jin threw a sickening punch to the man’s nose, just as the man had done to Nayeon. The boss stumbled to the side, holding his nose as blood dripped through the cracks of his fingers. 

Jin was sure the guy was pummeled. He grabbed the boss by the collar of his shirt, but the boss seemed to have plans unrelated to giving up. He knocked his fist into Jin’s cheek, and Jin felt the inside of his cheek cut against his teeth. 

Jin threw a punch back. He was used to it by that point; he kicked the boss’s leg, and the two fought, throwing punches with ugly noises and competing to see who’d stand it. 

“Is this...” The boss had taken hold of Jin’s collar at some point. “Is this all for Im Nayeon? That ugly bitch?”

“She’s beautiful.” Jin’s eyes narrowed. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve had the privilege of ever seeing. So when you... break her nose... beat up on her... it really pisses me off, you know?” 

“I don’t know.” The boss snickered. His breath was foul. “I don’t know at all. Why don’t you tell me, so I can know? Are her breasts beautiful? Her thighs are really just like milk, aren’t they. Smooth and white... I’m sure it was easy to fall in love.” 

Jin’s eyes blazed with fury. “You son of a bitch!” He packed a punch straight into the boss’s throat. The boss’s eyes bulged, and he fell backwards. Jin was on top of him immediately, delivering ugly punches to his nose. 

“You fucking- You stupid fucker!” Jin had insult after insult for the man who’d so willingly hurt Nayeon. He was beating into his nose, and by that point, Jin thought the damage would be irreversible. “You... I should cut your fucking hands off. I should-,” Jin stopped punching him. Hands bloodied, he pinched the man’s nose with the intent to tear it off. “I should rip your nose off. I should rip your tongue off, your fucking teeth out! I should just kill you!”

“Killing me...” The boss was groaning in pain. “It doesn’t help in the end.” 

Tears dripped from Jin’s eyelashes. “Stop saying stupid shit!” He sobbed. “When I’m about to fucking end your life!” 

Getting emotional was Jin’s number one mistake. He’d regret it as long as he had the memory of that life-changing, eternally defining, utter mistake. Jin had weakened his grip for just a _second_ , and the boss had his hands back on Jin’s neck. He lifted himself up and over Jin.

“Nayeon,” The boss just kept grinning. His face was bloodied, streaked with dirt and whatever else was on there, and his nose was completely misshapen. Blood fell onto Jin’s cheekbone and rolled across down his face. “Nayeon is a psychopath. She has no problem killing all these people, Kim Seokjin. If you had come just a day earlier... she’d have no problem killing you.”

The exhaustion Jin had recognized earlier was finally creeping in. As the boss pushed him back onto the floor, Jin tried hard to form words, but choking was worse than it seemed. His eyes rolled back as the fatigue he’d warded off for so many hours was finally, finally creeping in. 

“None of those girls have any problem killing people. No problem killing _you_.” The boss was lifting him by the neck. Jin was barely able to keep his eyes open; he had no idea what was happening. “They’re all total psychos. You made... a huge mistake coming to Seoul.” 

Nayeon knocked the boss away. Jin’s head fell heavy onto something hard- a rock. The boss had intended to break his skull. 

As Jin regained consciousness, he looked to the left, head bleeding, and saw Nayeon in a dog fight with her boss. Her knuckles were cut, face was bruised, and even in his half alive state, Jin wanted so desperately to disinfect her wounds and clean her up. 

He watched as Nayeon threw fist after fist onto the boss’s face, and he suddenly felt the heat of tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. 

He’d just met Nayeon. He’d just met all these girls. But he felt he’d found his purpose in this life after meeting Nayeon, after hearing her story, after protecting and caring for her- he had discovered in his time at the mansion, that all he wanted to do from then on was to take care of Nayeon. 

To keep her safe.

To keep her happy. 

Jin sobbed through his teeth. Now, he couldn’t do any of those. Jin felt awful. He couldn’t get up. He was bleeding from his head. There was no energy left to pick his legs up and run to Nayeon. 

The most he could do was roll off of the rock, and get a view of Nayeon before he really died. 

He couldn’t see her face. She and her boss were on the floor. Jin watched her with a clouded vision, tears and pain blocking his view. He saw her reach into her skirt, and pull out her knife. 

She lifted her hand into the air, and brought it down. Blood spewed into the air. She must’ve stabbed his neck. 

She rolled away from him, and Jin, with whatever power he had left, got to his feet. Blood dripped from god knows where, and he couldn’t open his left eye or move his right leg correctly, but god be damned if he let himself die without seeing Nayeon first. 

He reached her, and his eyes went from her exhausted face straight to the bloody wound on her stomach. 

Jin’s eyes widened. He sat up, and with trembling arms, pressed his hand over her wound.

“Seokjin,” She gasped, eyes flitting to his. Her milky skin was unusually pale, and the usual pink of her lips was fading rapidly away. 

She was dying.

“Seokjin.” She groaned. Tears slipped from her eyes. 

“Nayeon!” He wailed, hoisting her into his lap. “Nayeon, Nayeon my baby, you’re okay- you’re okay, just breathe, breathe really deep-...”

“Seokjin.” She dug weakening fingers into his sleeve. Her lip trembled as she tried to speak, and blood fell from her mouth. “I...”

“Nayeon, please.” Jin begged in a whine, his earlier tears coming back with a ferocious threat to never stop. He held her head close to his as he bent over, their noses brushing every so often. “Nayeon, we have to have five girls together. They all... they all have to look like you...”

“I...” She kept trying to form sentences, but it never worked. In the end, she gurgled out more blood.

“Don’t you want to see Illsan?” He sobbed. “Don’t you want to be happy with me?”

Nayeon gave him a weak smile. Jin let out an ugly sob at the sight of it. 

“So handsome.” Nayeon sighed. “Seokjin...”

She reached for his face with whatever strength she had left. He held her head closer to his as he cried. 

“I love you.” She rasped. 

“I love you too.” Jin said hurriedly. “I love you, Im Nayeon. But we don’t have to say that right now. We don’t have to hurry, because we- we have our whole lives to say it, Nayeon! We have so much time to fall in love!”

Nayeon reached up to kiss him. Their lips connected, and Jin’s heart broke at the feeling of her cold lips. Nayeon’s hand slipped from his face. When they pulled away, Jin looked desperately to Nayeon, but she was not looking back at him. Her eyes had glazed over. Her pretty breathing slowed, and Jin felt her last exhale against his lips. 

“No,” He whined quietly, shaking his head. “No, Nayeon... don’t go.”

He bowed his head into her neck, shoulders heaving as he sobbed. The world in that moment had stopped for Kim Seokjin. The raging clamor of shouts and bones breaking with fists thudding has quieted. The sky tore into a flurry of rain, fat rain drops making their first hits on the sizzling flames that engulfed the forest. 

Perhaps, the heavens were crying too. 

Hands grabbed Jin’s arms. He looked up sharply, eyes swollen and throat hurting. The girls surrounded him; Jeongyeon, who they’d left behind, was pulling him away.

“Dahyun, don’t do this!” He heard Momo plead. 

“Let me go!” Jin screeched, eyes fixated on Nayeon’s body. She was cold, alone with nobody to shield her from the rain. Jin had to be there with her. Jin had to be there forever with her. “Let me go! Let me go, let me go, let me go! Nayeon! _Nayeon!_ ”

“Open his eyes!” Mina ordered. 

“Mina, stop it!” Momo sobbed. “You don’t know what this will do to him!”

“We’ll just make him forget what he saw here!” Mina barked, but her eyes were brimming with tears too. “We’ll take away his pain!”

Jin, through his thrashing and sobs, saw Dahyun approaching with an anxious face. 

“No.” Jin shivered. “No. No! No! You can’t do this! Let me go!”

“Just open his eyes!” Mina screamed, and Sana complied. She peeled his eyes open as he thrashed and screamed, pleading for the girls to stop, to let him go.

“Let me see Nayeon!” Jin screamed. “Let me be with her! Let me- _Let me fucking go!_ ”

“Get out of here!” Jeongyeon shouted to Jihyo, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and Momo. “Get out! The bosses are coming!”

“We can’t!” Jihyo yelled, but someone was holding her back from running to stop Dahyun. “We can’t go without Jin! You can’t brainwash him!”

Dahyun blocked Jin’s vision. As he desperately turned and thrashed, kicked and convulsed in order to try to escape, to try and be with Nayeon.

She started to chant. The rain grew louder. It muted Jin’s screams, made his tears feel hotter, his heart feel like it was ripping apart. The screams of protest from the girls faded; all Jin heard was Dahyun’s trembling chant. 

His head hurt with such a pain he’d never felt before. Jin suddenly fell completely immobile; only to start convulsing furiously in Jeongyeon’s lap. His vision turned black, his ears blocking out any noise other than an awful ringing, and all he could feel was his body shaking with violent tremors.

Then, he blacked out. 

Korea’s worldwide Kim Seokjin was back, and he couldn’t remember a thing about going missing. This is how it went; he woke up in the hospital, managers and staff surrounding him. He’d been missing for a week, and in a coma for five days. His friends and family were not allowed to come see him, the staff had explained once he woke up, as reporters and paparazzi were crowding outside of the hospital. 

A couple of cops had barged in after Jin’s staff tried to make him feel better. They had hand notes and audio recorders, looking annoyed to be handling a celebrity’s case. 

“Do you remember why you went missing?”

“No.”

“Do you remember where you went missing?”

Jin knew the answer, but something in him thought it would be dangerous to respond honestly. “No.”

“Are you being honest?”

“Yes.” 

“Do you have any memories of what happened?”

“No.” It was the truth. Jin had absolutely no memories of what had happened. He still thought it was ridiculous that he was told he went missing. How could him, the Kim Seokjin, go missing? The whole nation would start looking for him!

But something in him knew that it was also true. He knew there was something more to just forgetting about going missing; but it was impossible to put it into words. 

Jin was discharged. Namjoon arrived with Taehyung to pick him up, and his bodyguards blocked reporters and cameras to safely get the patient to his car. His managers ran behind him, shouting and yelling about having to take him home themselves, but Jin wanted nothing more than to see his brothers after a long day of confusion. 

Namjoon and Taehyung greeted him with toothy smiles, and clambered into the backseat to give Jin a hug.

“You were all bruised!” Taehyung was crying, out of no where. “You had a black eye, and your entire leg was just bruised and full of scratches! Kim Seokjin, what happened?!”

“The doctors called us and told us what happened. Do you remember anything at all, Jin?” Namjoon asked, rubbing Jin’s thigh affectionately. 

“I wish I did.” Jin sighed, settling his head on Namjoon’s shoulder. He closed his eyes, feeling happier than he’d ever been as he reunited with Taehyung and Namjoon. “But I feel like I missed you guys a lot.” 

Jin discovered, that as the days went on, there was an emptiness in his heart. His chest ached when he passed by clothing stores, lingerie night dresses on display. His eyes stung when his make up artists put on his lip stick. He felt... sad. As if something had torn him apart. He could barely even smile seeing his family, and barely laugh with his friends. 

When he went home in the night, he felt lonelier than he’d ever had before. He tossed and turned in his bed, expecting somebody to be there whenever he turned around. 

One night, he discovered he was wearing earrings. Perhaps he’d looked them over, since they never itched or hurt his ears, been too busy to notice them. He stared at them in the mirror. He did not know he was crying until he felt tear drops drip onto his hands. 

Yoongi suggested that Jin date. Maybe he was missing a bit of love. It was the last resort for Jin’s friends; they were getting desperate as they realized there was no cure for Jin’s wave of sadness. Last week, Namjoon and Jungkook begged Jin to go fishing, but their pleas went in one ear and out the next. Jin did his work well; modeled beautifully and did interviews with a bright smile and his usual flirtatious attitude, but Taehyung often caught him in the dressing room in tears. Nobody knew what to do.

So, Jin went on a date. He took her home. But watching her undress, he felt repulsed. As if he were doing something wrong. He couldn’t even look at her directly, let alone take off his clothes. 

When she moved to touch him, Jin slapped her hands away. 

“I’m so sorry.” He ended up bowing to her deeply, sobbing as he did. “I am so, so sorry. I can’t do it.”

Jimin appeared at his apartment one night. Jimin was gorgeous- he’d always been gorgeous. Seeing him illuminated by nothing more than the moonlight, his silhouette outlined against the doorway of Jin’s bedroom, made Jin feel like dying. 

“Jin.” Jimin whispered once Jin flicked on the lights and sat up in bed. Jimin ran to hug him. 

Jin buried his face into his neck and cried. 

“It hurts, Jimin.” Jin wept. “It hurts so bad.”

“What hurts?” Jimin asked desperately, rubbing his back.

“Everything.” Jin sobbed, holding onto Jimin. “Everything, Jimin. It feels like I’m dying.”

Yoongi was sleeping over one night. Jin barely spoke to anybody, so the boys took it upon themselves to pester him and see him themselves. Last week, Jimin had broken into his house and slept over in Jin’s bed to comfort him, and this week, it seemed Yoongi would be doing the honors.

Yoongi was a good friend of Jin’s. They were the eldest of the friends, and often sat around reminiscing on old memories whenever the seven of them went on trips. Jin did not go as far back with Yoongi as Yoongi did with Namjoon, considering the pair lived together for ten years and knew everything about each other, but Jin was assured knowing that he and Yoongi had a special bond too. 

Tonight, Jin was finally comforted by a person’s presence. He felt a twinge of happiness, deep in his heart, when he looked at Yoongi, under the covers as he sat up playing with music on his laptop. 

“What are you mixing?” Jin asked Yoongi softly. The television served as background noise for the pair. 

“Good shit.” Yoongi mumbled. Jin managed to crack a smile at Yoongi. His easy-going, almost snarky demeanor made him funny, though it was clear he never tried to be. 

Jin’s eyes focused back on the television. There was a shot of a forest, thick trees and thick foliage. 

“Have we ever been there?” Jin asked Yoongi. It was oddly familiar.

Yoongi glanced up at the television. “Nope.” He said. “Does your uncle have a tree farm?”

Jin rolled his eyes. 

“ _... string of murders connected to four people. They have been identified as four of the eight girls that went missing in 2016._ ”

Jin reached for the remote, and turned it up.

“You like the news now?” Yoongi muttered, but Jin was engrossed in the television. Everything was familiar. 

Then, a girl in a mugshot appeared on screen. Sharp eyes and pale skin, small lips with a pretty face and an upturned nose. 

“ _Kim Dahyun, who has been identified as one of the missing-girl cases from 2016, has been involved in a complicated string of criminal murders alongside with four other girls from the 2016 missing-girl cases. Seoul, since 2016, has seen a drastic drop in criminal activity, and it looks like it’s tied to these four girls. Kim had no comments during interrogation, and her family have yet to make an official appearance to the police station._ ”

A separate mugshot, a pretty girl who looked like a foreigner, that made Jin’s heart ache just as it had been. 

_Myoui Mina, following Kim Dahyun, is also from the missing girl cases. She was a Japanese foreign exchange student, who arrived in Seoul in early July. Her dorm mates reported her missing after Mina did not return to their dorms for one week, and her family moved from Japan to Korea in an attempt to search for their daughter. It was reported that Myoui had no comment during interrogations.”_

_”Sana Minatozaki, a Japanese idol trainee who came to Korea in late March, went missing with dorm mate Zhou Tzuyu a week after passing audition rounds. Zhou Tzuyu was filed as found last month after appearing at her family’s doorstep; she said she had no correlation with Sana Minatozaki and cannot remember where or how she went missing. Minatozaki made the comment that she and her friends were convinced into believing murder was the right choice, and that they had been trying to escape for weeks after conditions worsened in the house. Due to Minatozaki’s unstable state of mind, the police have decided to put away her interrogation. More news on Minatozaki’s interrogation will be aired next week.”_

_”Yoo Jeongyeon, formerly Yoo Kyungwan, was also found guilty on a charge of serial murders. Her family has yet to make an appearance, but Yoo made the statement that she and the three girls were captured and forced into murder. Yoo also stated that there was a business being run behind the scenes, and that she and the three victims were held captive and ordered by a man in charge. Yoo also stated that there were a group of women in charge of their boss. Directly from Yoo Jeongyeon’s words, she stated that she and her friends were just subordinates, with no actual knowledge on what was happening behind the scenes.”_

Yoongi turned off the television. Jin looked to him. 

“Why did you turn it off?” Jin asked.

“‘Cos you’re looking fucking crazy at the TV.” Yoongi gave him an odd look. “Have you met those girls?”

Jin stared at the black television screen. His head was spinning. “I dunno.” He mumbled, shutting his eyes. “I have no idea.”

Jin was up in the early morning. His eyes were wide open in the dark light of the morning. He sat up in bed, and looked out the window. 

It was just before dawn. He glanced at Yoongi, sleeping peacefully beside him. Carefully, he slipped out of bed and reached for his phone.

He hadn’t touched his phone since he got out of the hospital. When he saw his lockscreen, he noticed he had fifty missed calls from Jungkook, 78,000 text messages from the group chat with his friends, one hundred and three calls from his manager, and one thousand messages from his family group chat. He ignored all of the notifications and unlocked his phone. 

He stared at his home screen as it flooded with notifications. He pressed on his photo gallery.

There were three photos he’d never seen before. He pressed on the first one, and saw the prettiest girl he’d ever seen on his screen. 

She had big eyes, a tiny nose and upturned nostrils, black hair that framed her face in a pretty manner, and her lips were parted to reveal bunny teeth. She wasn’t smiling; it looked like she was caught off guard from opening the selfie camera. 

He went to the second photo. It was a clearer photo; Jin got a view of the woman’s entire face as she gave the camera a peace sign. There were people behind her, dressed in white and black, bent over or turned to speak to each other.

The third and final picture, the photo quality became a bit blurry. Motion lines blurred the girl’s cheeks, her eyes squeezed tight and smile big as she laughed. 

She had a gummy smile. A gummy smile with big, pretty bunny teeth.

“Jin?”

Yoongi’s rasp was enough to break Jin out of his trance. He whirled around, and saw Yoongi sitting up in bed with squinted eyes. 

“Are you crying?” Yoongi asked, and rubbed his eyes.

Jin blinked. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. 

A week later, Jin was sat in a coffee shop. He’d been called for a script reading that day, and work ended just an hour ago. He’d gotten a text from a Kim Heechul, one of the idols from Super Junior. Jin was his friend; they’d been on variety shows together, done plenty of interviews and radio shows, and even went on a trip together to satisfy what a show called for, but Jin didn’t know they were the kind of friends to go out and have coffee together. 

He stared out the window. It was freezing outside. It was the middle of fall, which usually meant rain was a rarity, but it was pouring today. He watched as the rain drops patterned on the window, creating a gentle noise that accommodated the soft music and gentle clanging of cups and forks that made the coffee shop’s ambiance. 

“Hey.” 

Jin looked up, and saw Heechul’s pretty face. He smiled at Jin. 

“Hey.” Jin gave him a smile back. “How are you?”

“Good.” Heechul looked nervous. “I’m good. I tried to call you when I found out you were in the hospital, but I guess you’ve been pretty... out of it, right?”

“I’m sorry about that.” Jin said. “I-... I don’t know. Just haven’t been myself lately.”

“Is there a reason for that?” Heechul asked softly. 

Jin looked up at him in clear confusion. Heechul’s expression was gentle; he meant no harm, but the question was unnecessary. 

“What?” Jin asked, giving him a strange look. 

Heechul stepped aside. Behind him, a pretty woman stood with an anxious face. Her face was pretty and round, and she looked little in a big coat and scarf. 

“I’m so hungry,” Jin whispered beneath his breath. 

Momo’s eyes lit up. She started to laugh in relief. “You remember!”

“I...” Jin’s face contorted in confusion. “Who.. Are you Momo? Hirai Momo?”

Momo nodded happily. “That’s me! You remember! You even remember what I was saying that day!”

“How do I...” Jin whimpered, looking from her to Heechul for answers. Momo cut him off, pulling him into a hug. 

She was completely, one hundred percent familiar.

Jin hugged her back with no hesitancy. 

Momo was his friend. He knew that much to be true. 

When she pulled away, she was smiling, eyes filled with tears. “Kim Seokjin,” She laughed. “Do you remember everything?”

“No.” Jin choked, holding onto her arms. Did Momo have the key to the ache in her heart? Was she the cause? Or did she know the cause. “No, I don’t remember anything from when I went missing-, Momo, what... Who are you?”

Tears fell from her eyes. “I’ll tell you everything, Kim Seokjin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading bunny teeth! that’s the end of this fan fiction ^^ to everybody interested in the aftermath of Seokjin and the nine girls, there will be an extra chapter soon on it. thanks again for the kudos and comments! it cheered me up and kept me going ❤️❤️❤️   
> see you guys in the next fan fiction ❤️ Thanks again for reading

**Author's Note:**

> it’s a short story, so the plot line might be a little rushed here and there! I love nayeon and jin together, and I hope this can boost their ship potential even by a little 🥺 hope you enjoyed!


End file.
